On Tuesday night, the audience in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts blamed all of their exes with The Beaches, a Toronto-based band brought to the High Country by APPS for their third-to-last show on their “Blame My Ex Tour.”
The show was free for audience members after the effects of Hurricane Helene and all tickets purchased prior were refunded.
The band, which has been together for over a decade, is composed of Jordan Miller on lead vocals, Kylie Miller and Leandra Earl on guitar and backing vocals and Eliza Enman-McDaniel on drums.
The band catapulted to fame after their song “Blame Brett” went viral on TikTok, garnering 3.4 million views. The song peaked at No. 2 on Spotify’s U.S. Viral Chart and No. 1 at Alt Radio in Canada and has over 79 million streams on Spotify.
The Beaches took No. 25 on Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2024 for “writing a break-up song for the ages,” and also were on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist for their sophomore album, “Blame My Ex.” The group opened for both the Rolling Stones and Greta Van Fleet earlier this year.
Cigarettes @ Sunset, a band originating in Boone, opened for The Beaches, playing “Shoulder Blades” among others from their discography. Bassist Wells Whitman said this was their last hometown show of the year, which also happened to be their 88th show this year alone.
The Beaches went onstage at 9:15 p.m., starting off their set with “T-Shirt.” The band made use of the entire Schaefer Center stage and even had choreographed, synchronized dance breaks to pair with Enman-McDaniel’s drumming.
Earl took the opportunity to jump off of the stage during “Let’s Go” and danced in the aisles of the auditorium, even taking a pair of glasses from a fan that featured the band’s name on the lenses.
The group also engaged the crowd by calling people out by name, most notably during their song “Jocelyn,” where a girl in the crowd with the same name was illuminated by a spotlight for the band to interact with.
Madison Berrier, a senior social work major, attended the show both for The Beaches and Cigarettes @ Sunset and has been a fan of The Beaches for a few months.
“I went to Peach Pit last year, and it was so good,” Berrier said. “It’s nice because you get a discount on tickets and this one was free so why not go.”
Becca Neill, a junior psychology major, came to the show because it was her friend’s birthday, but she also enjoys The Beaches’ songs “Blame Brett” and “Edge of the Earth.”
As a member of an a cappella group, Neill has performed onstage at Schaefer Center in Acapellageddon but said she was excited to be in the audience this time around.
“Compared to the a cappella shows, the audience is definitely more hype, but that’s to be expected,” Neill said.
Earl, when talking to the crowd before the band sang “Kismet,” provided a place for the audience to feel secure while they were in the auditorium.
“There’s a lot going on in the world and in this country right now, and I just want to say that at a Beaches show, you are safe,” Earl said.
The show was a total of two hours and fifteen minutes in length, starting at 8 p.m. and ending at 10:15 p.m.
