The Beaches @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena-- October 25, 2025
It’s been incredible to see the meteoric rise of Toronto’s The Beaches. A couple years ago I was pleasantly surprised when they sold out the Orpheum, and now they’re playing their first arena-headlining shows with the No Hard Feelings Tour in celebration of their new album. The tour kicked off the previous night in Victoria before the band returned to Vancouver for a sold out(!) show at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Opening the night was Valley, also from Toronto. I only caught part of their set, but they were more on the ‘pop’ end of the ‘alternative pop’ scale, with songs like “Baby is a Cowboy” which saw drummer Karah James on vocals, and singer Rob Laska getting everyone to join in on “Bop Ba”. They were maybe a little too pop for my own taste, but were definitely a good choice to warm the crowd up.
The stage was then set for The Beaches, as a voicemail played over the speakers — which would recur throughout the set to introduce other songs — and Jordan Miller, Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl, and Eliza Enman-McDaniel immediately rocked out with with “Last Girls at the Party”.
The first time I saw The Beaches, I was immediately taken by their energy, and a bigger stage just meant more. They made use of the space as the members all sang, danced, and/or shred back & forth and on the catwalk platform (well, Eliza behind the drums didn’t more around much, but still matched the rest of the band’s energy). They also included the audience, with Jordan giving an overshare and also inviting up a member of the crowd to do the same before “Did I Say Too Much”, and later making her way along the front row to sing directly to people, before bestowing someone a sash emblazoned with “Jocelyn” for the titular song.
Other highlights included the infectious “Fine, Let’s Get Married”, the simmering intensity of “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid”, and Leandra introducing “Lesbian of the Year” with a heartwarming story about coming out later in life and the advice she got from Tegan Quin, before a gorgeous performance with just her on keys and Jordan singing.
Late in the set they took a moment to thank long-time fans before ripping through a few older favourites like the “T-Shirt”, the crowd joining in on a certain anatomical lyric, and “Money”. And then the main set came to an end with the huge hit, “Blame Brett” as I got chills when the sold out crowd started singing along almost perfectly.
But of course they were back out for a couple more: one of my faves off the new album the acerbic “I Wore You Better”, “Sorry for Your Loss” dedicated to the LA Dodgers, and finally a reprise of “Last Girls at the Party” to bookend the set.
There are a lot of bands in Canada who feel like they are ‘arena worthy’, and it’s always great when one breaks through and fulfills that potential. Not that I had any doubts, but The Beaches were completely at home on the big stage, with a few thousand people hanging on their every note.
setlist
Last Girls at the Party
Touch Myself
Me & Me
Cigarette
Grow Up Tomorrow
Shower Beer
Did I Say Too Much
Fine, Let’s Get Married
Dirty Laundry
Can I Call You in the Morning?
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid
Everything Is Boring
Lesbian of the Year
Edge of the Earth
T-Shirt
Fascination
Blow Up
Give It Up
Money
Jocelyn
Takes One to Know One
Blame Brett
(encore)
I Wore You Better
Sorry for Your Loss
Last Girls at the Party (reprise)
the message left on one of the big screens at the end of the show
