The Beaches “Blame My Ex” Sold-Out Asbury Lanes Show

Written by cupor1 on September 29, 2024

Article By: Julianna Leigh Photography By: Shannon Daly

Asbury Lanes 9/26:

As a concert addict, I’ve seen my fair share of low-energy, low-effort performances- the Beaches was certainly not one of them. This was my first time seeing The Beaches, and it was so incredibly refreshing to see an entire band on stage who just genuinely loves music and performing it. That being said, their opener did make me nervous about the type of show I was about to see. I had never heard of Charlie Houston before this concert, and I understand why. Technically, her music was fine, however, it was seriously boring. On top of her slow moving songs, she rarely moved away from the mic stand. It just wasn’t very entertaining sonically or visually.

Luckily, The Beaches were able to get on stage with a bang and really pick the energy back up. Even though the show was pretty minimal in terms of stage design and special effects, it was still so much fun and adrenaline pumping. From stage presence to musicality, The Beaches delivered a performance worth remembering. In terms of stage presence, there was not a single moment where any member of the band was standing still. They were able to make the audience feel their music simply because they themselves were feeling it. A sick moment in the show, that was quite possibly my favorite, was guitarist Leandra Earl, quite literally playing guitar standing on one leg upside down. Her stage presence alone could have carried that entire show.

The Beaches were also super interactive with the audience, which was super cool. Besides the drummer, obviously, each member made their way around the entire stage getting up close with fans. Once again, Leandra Earl was putting on a show of her own when she came off of the stage to stand on the barricade and sing “Kinkade” to the audience. There was even a moment where lead singer, Jordan Miller, handed an audience member a tambourine and let them play along with the band to one of their songs.

One thing that I absolutely adored about this performance was the lack of pre-recorded tracks. Oftentimes, there are certain pieces of a song that are just unable to be played live for a number of reasons, whether that be lack of instrumentalists, vocalists or equipment. The Beaches did a really incredible job of keeping those kinds of tracks to a minimum. Of course, they still had some background vocals and small instrumentals that had to be played through these tracks, but it wasn’t taking away from the on-stage music. Just about everything was played live on stage and I think that really added to the energy of the show.

The Beaches “Blame My Ex Tour” at Asbury Lanes sold out in three days when tickets were placed on sale and now, to me, it makes perfect sense why. As a long time listener of The Beaches, I was really pleasantly surprised at the high-energy, minimalistic, authentic performance that they were able to put on. I would absolutely recommend that anyone interested in seeing The Beaches do so as soon as possible because it’s such a great time.

Setlist:

“Cigarette”,

“Fascination”

“Want What You Got”

“Me & Me”, “Kismet”

“My Body Ft Your Lips”

“Shower Beer”

“If a Tree Falls”

“Grow Up Tomorrow”

“T-Shirt”

“What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid”

“Everything Is Boring”