The Beaches Party Hard in Edmonton

It doesn’t need to be the weekend for The Beaches to party – the Toronto based alt-rock band got pumped up in Edmonton on a Monday night for their “No Hard Feelings” tour. The all-girl quartet is comprised of lead vocalist Jordan Miller, guitarist Kylie Miller, guitarist and keyboardist Leandra Earl, and drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel, and the four members each brought their own flair to the show.

Fellow Toronto band Valley opened the show, with lead vocalist Rob Laska, bassist and keyboardist Alex Dimauro, and drummer Karah James playing their own well-loved hits such as “Like 1999” and “When You Know Someone.” With high jumps and infectious energy, the crowd was easily warmed up with their upbeat pop-rock music.

Soon after, The Beaches pranced onto stage and burst into “Last Girls at the Party,” complete with giddy energy and Jordan twirling across the stage catwalk in a black body suit studded with silver gems. Jordan took a moment to share that she was now “28 days single” and preached the importance of self-love, illustrated in the song “Me & Me.”

An arena audience didn’t stop Jordan from oversharing a story where she called her ex to ask if his recent song was about her. Before performing the apt song “Did I Say Too Much,” the band invited a fan onto stage to share their own oversharing story. A fan wearing an “I Love Mean Femmes” shirt got to tell her tale of oversharing too much in a job interview that she lost the job, and the band bounced straight into the song.

Partway through the set, Kylie and Eliza left the stage alone to Jordan and Leandra. Sitting side by side, leather pant-clad Leandra detailed her experience of coming out as a lesbian later in life. A keyboard was placed on the catwalk, and Leandra played keys while Jordan belted out the emotional lyrics of “Lesbian Of The Year.”

As an ode to their Canadian roots, Jordan stated how a few songs on the set were exclusive to the Canada dates only, propelling into “T-Shirt,” “Fascination,” and “Blow Up” from their earlier records. All throughout the night, brief video intermissions were screened every few songs, airing voicemails and phone calls between the girls and their exes.

Popular hits “Takes One To Know One” and “Blame Brett” ended the main set. The encore saw the band perform “I Wore You Better,” “Sorry for Your Loss,” and a fitting reprise of “Last Girls at the Party.”

The Beaches are the epitome of girlhood, their records brimming with songs about exes, self-love, friendship, and finding yourself. It shows at their concerts – from their interactions with fans, to their ad-libs between songs, to Leandra sharing how she asked her best friends to come with her on the tour. Their music is a balance of fun and sensitive, an emotional rollercoaster accurately depicting the life of the modern twenty-something woman – and it’s beautiful to have a reminder that you’re never alone on that rollercoaster.

Be sure to check out their recent Tiny Desk Concert and grab tickets to one of their upcoming tour dates here.