Friendship, hard work and perseverance are The Beaches superpowers, but it’s their anthemic pop-rock songs about quirky, funny, crappy, drunken, empowering, carefree, vulnerable, loving and lusty things that have resonated with scores of young people and those well into adulthood who remember what it was like to be carefree and single — or maybe still are.
Last night (Nov. 6), the local band, named after the east-end lakeshore neighbourhood, headlined Toronto’s 19,800-capacity Scotiabank Arena, on their No Hard Feelings Tour, virtually selling out an eyeball calculation just shy of a thousand or so. That puts it on par with their sold-out show last summer at the 16,000-cap Budweiser Stage. Neither is easy to do, but Toronto does love to show love to our winning teams.
The enormous accomplishment was not lost on lead singer/bassist Jordan Miller; her sister, guitarist Kylie Miller; drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel; and guitarist/ keyboardist Leandra Earl, who used words and phrases like “wow,” “oh, my God,” “surreal,” “this is just so crazy” and “a dream come true,” thanking Toronto fans for their support over the past dozen years, recalling how they started out playing tiny rooms like Supermarket’s backroom in Kensington Market.
Of note, The Beaches were dropped by their label in 2022, but it fired them up to continue on their own terms, and look what happened: they won JUNO Awards; got on Jimmy Kimmel and NPR’s Tiny Desk, and above all, next year they’ll tour U.S. arenas opening for songwriter and former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson, including at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. They also just wrapped up a U.S. headlining tour of large clubs and theatres, and are at the tail end of the Canadian leg — a mix of casinos, theatres and arenas, with some of the smaller venues requiring two nights.
There is also, perhaps, some poetic justice at play. The Beaches last played Scotiabank Arena in November 2018 opening for the Glorious Sons, the rock band led by Brett Emmons — yes, that Brett, who dated Jordan for three years and inspired the 2023 breakup song “Blame Brett,” which went viral on TikTok, reigniting The Beaches career and helping to bring them to where they are now.
With all their parents in the audience, friends from Los Angeles, and exes in the wings, The Beaches put on an hour-and-45-minute show that was even more polished and tight than their Bud Stage milestone.
The stage was nothing fancy — they don’t need distracting nonsense — just had a small runway protruding into the general admission area and “The Beaches” lit up for the backdrop, plus a big but tasteful light show that is a bonafide ‘I’ve arrived’ moment for any rock musician who fought their way up through the clubs. Every audience member also had an LED wristband synced to the music, dotting the venue.
Opening with “Last Girls at the Party” and “Touch Myself” from their third and latest studio album, No Hard Feelings, Jordan then asked everyone, “Did you miss your girls? We missed you too. We’re so happy to be here, partying with all of our city tonight.”
The whole arena was on its feet and remained until the very end. They played “Me + Me” and “Cigarette,” with Jordan, Kylie and Leandra all making use of the stage, interacting with each other, sometimes doing a knee drop or Jordan would jump and spin, her arm in the air.
They endured a five-minute technical glitch not long into their set — Eliza’s snare drum was “f**ked,” she explained — but no one cared; it allowed them to shout out their parents and the friends who flew in, and Jordan told a funny story about describing her strep throat symptoms to hospital personnel by using the word “puss-y” (we’re sure it’s on YouTube). By the end of that communal laugh, the problem was fixed and they went right into the catchy “I’ll Grow Up Tomorrow.”
There were some special moments too. Jordan’s invitation to a fan to come on stage to share a story for “Did I Say Too Much” and later for “Jocelyn,” for which Jordan put on a blue pageant-style sash bearing the name, and went down to the barrier to sing to, shake hands, and give the sash to someone.
Throughout the night, all four members spoke to the audience, mainly expressing their thanks for their support. There was even a time when just the drum kit and riser were lit up allowing Eliza to echo the sentiments.
After “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid” and “Everything Is Boring” — by then how clear it was that every single song they played is strong — Leandra spoke candidly for a minute before “Lesbian of the Year.”
“I really got to talk to honestly my band about the struggles and the dream of coming out later in life and finding myself, and coming out to my family and friends, and hoping that they’ll love me just the same — and they have, which is so special,” she said, adding that it’s the first time playing this song live to her parents.
As she spoke, the audience started passing around the gigantic flag that read “Lesbians Rock” that opening act Talk had brought onstage with him and passed down to the crowd. And a tad later, Alex Simpson from Live Nation Canada and Leandra’s ex, came out onstage to get her sweatshirt from her.
For the next song, “Edge of the Earth,” Karah James from the Toronto band Valley joined them. Valley has been opening some of the No Hard Feelings Tour dates.
Jordan again mentioned “There’s no place like home,” going on to say, “We’ve been really f**kin lucky to play all over the world to so many different people, but we’ll never forget that we’re Canadian girls, Toronto girls.”
She then made a special point to thank Toronto radio for playing their songs, then said, “We wanted to do something special for all of our Canadian fans and create a part of the set that we were just gonna play for you guys. So this is a celebration of all the years we’ve spent together baby, 13 beautiful years.”
With that, they played a smoking medley of 2018’s “T-Shirt,” 2020’s “Fascination,” 2021’s “Blow Up,” 2016’s “Give It Up,” 2020’s “Lame” and 2017 “Money.”
Of course, as the time inched closer to 11 curfew, they ended the set with the boisterous and buoyant “Blame Brett,” the evening’s standout.
The encore was “I Wore You Better,” “Sorry For Your Loss” and a reprise of “Last Girls at the Party.”
Jordan, Kylie, Eliza and Leandra all came to the edge of the stage, waving goodbye, but, of course, they will be back. They’re an arena act now, and it’s just a matter of time before it radiates to the rest of the country and the U.S. Blame Brett, yes, but also thank Brett.
