Alternative rock band The Beaches walked on the Green Stage at Boston Calling picking up their instruments and checking their tuning one last time before their performance on May 26. When they started playing the opening notes of “Late Show,” The Beaches’ name flashed on the back monitor and spotlights washed over the crowd.
But the audience quickly realized one thing was off—lead singer Jordan Miller’s microphone wasn’t working.
After a subtle murmur in the crowd, her powerful and carefree vocals blasted through the speakers, mixing with the loud cheers of the audience as The Beaches’ set finally started.
According to Miller, The Beaches were not originally supposed to have this time slot.
“We did luck out,” Miller said. “So it was crazy to see that entire crowd full … we just got to rock out that entire time.”
The Beaches played their set with an infectious energy, and they even played some of their newer songs, debuting the new ’80s alternative-inspired direction the group is going in with its music, according to guitarist Kylie Miller.
“[We were listening to a lot of] like ’80s alternative and kind of shifting from the really guitar-driven rock stuff,” Kylie said. “It’s way more simple than our music has been in a long time. We’re kind of stripped back a little bit and Jordan’s vocal really has the ability to shine that way.”
The second song the group played was “Want What You Got,” during which the band members asked the crowd to sing back “I say it a lot,” after Jordan sang the song title during the chorus. The song had a danceable guitar rhythm, as the performers demonstrated on stage.
Jordan, who plays bass, flipped her hair around during the whole song while the two guitarists, Leandra Earl and Kylie, jumped around the stage, often walking to each other’s sides and going to the middle of the stage to dance with Jordan.
Similarly to the witty lyrics in their songs, namely “T-Shirt” and “Blame Brett,” The Beaches held cheeky banter with the audience between songs. While introducing “Everything Is Boring,” Jordan exclaimed “everything but Boston baby,” before hitting the first chord. Jordan also talked about being on the lookout for a “Harvard hottie” while the keyboardist was fixing her instrument.
One of the most energetic and chaotic songs in the band’s set was “T-Shirt,” The Beaches’ most streamed song on Spotify. In this track, Jordan sang about keeping all the items a past lover left at her apartment.
“This song goes out to all the slutty girls in the audience,” Jordan said as she transitioned into the song.
As with every song in their performance, The Beaches ran and danced around the stage, inspiring the audience to follow their lead and move along to the rhythm of each track. But during “T-Shirt,” Earl, who switched to keys for this song, ran up and jokingly put her hands on Jordan’s chest, prompting loud cheers from the audience.
Throughout the performance, the audience could see the close bond of the The Beaches’ members. With the way they spoke to each other and the audience, it was obvious how they made each other feel comfortable and bounced energy off each other to deliver each performance to the best of their ability.
Growing up, Jordan said that when they started performing, The Beaches were often the only female or female-presenting band on the festival lineup. Seeing a seemingly close-knit girl band perform on stage adds to this representation that has been growing in the music industry.
“I think that it is really important to have young women as figures to look up to, not necessarily as role models, [but] just to make it known that girls can do things that guys have been doing the entire time,” Kylie added. “The more representation there is, the more people feel encouraged to participate in something that they didn’t feel like they had the option to participate in.”
