Concert Reviews (288)

• July 24, 2026
• Colleen Johnson
• 18
• 0

Toronto’s The Beaches knew what they were doing in the always rough opening slot, when it came to the Louis Tomlinson show last week at TD Garden, and that energy and deserved confidence exuded over to the crowd. Gaining both new fans in the room and satiating those in the crowd,  with the crowd singing pretty much every word straight back to the band. Fresh off the massive success of their track, “Edge of The Earth,” highlighted and reignited by its use in the smash smut-filled Off Campus, the boost it gave the band was clear. That song was just one of a set that was formed around massive hits off the band’s debut album, as well as their brand new record.

This whole run, credit to headliner Tomlinson, he has feted himself with all-female acts on his arena tour this summer. The Beaches shared the main support slot with  The Aces over the stretch of the tour, both bands coming up really right at the same time, trajectory-wise. Both The Aces and The Beaches even shared a Boston Calling day in common a few years back in the city, and lead guitarist, Kylie Miller, commented on Tomlinson’s handling of his tour package selection. Kylie  said late in the set, “Thank you, Louis, for bringing so many female acts out to support.” He was also talked about by the other main contributor to the A plus dialogue with the audience, Leandra Earl, going,  “Can we all give it up for the one man, Louis Tomlinson, the British are coming, the British are coming, I really wanted to do that.”

The band truly gave a veteran performance that screams tribute to the years the band has been together, despite the very limited space to do their thing last week. The band released their sophomore album, No Hard Feelings, just last August, and won Junos recently for Group of the Year as well as Rock Album of the Year. And both of these albums were very present in the set.  The band cracked open the set with “Takes One to No One,” setting off the room immediately, and that first song set the energy for the night. Be it Leandra clad in a Bruins jersey for the performance, to the opening conversation with the crowd coming early, in the set, with Leandra saying, “What’s up, Boston? We’re The Beaches from Toronto, Canada.”

As the set progressed, big moments came with “Perfect 10” and “Can I Call You in the Morning?” back to back. The duo of songs came after Kylie Miller shared, “Today I walked in my Harvard sweatshirt just to feel something. I like to pretend I went to college.” Just ten minutes or so later in the set as well, being that the show was at the TD Garden, the home to both the Boston Bruins and Boston Raiders, to Heated Rivalry lovers, it brought on a clutch and crowd-roaring comment from Leandra. Leandra  saying, “This song goes out to a man that’s a yearner. It’s so nice to be home in the same room as Ilya Rozanov,” before jumping into a trifecta of major hits for the band, jumping into the aforementioned, “Edge of the Earth,” and pivoting straight into “Last Girl At the Party,” and of course culminating in their original breakout hit from their debut album, Blame My Ex, with that album’s  lead-off track, “Blame Brett”.

With “Blame Brett” finishing out the set, the band left the stage to the roars of the crowd in attendance, because, of course, a combination of Louis Tomlinson and The Beaches would surely bring out a slew of girlipops. The band has been no stranger to the city over the years, be it headlining Royale, their Boston Calling show, and their earliest days in town at places like the Crystal Ballroom. The foursome has been together for years now, and have only been hammering away at that natural progression. A natural progression that has, of course, been elevated with the success of “Off Campus” and the re-igniting of “Edge of the Earth,” but this is a band that has truly put in the work, and it’s clearly paid off.

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Photos: The Beaches at TD Garden in Boston, MA on July 14th: (All photos by John Hutchings)