Concert Review: The Beaches (Ritz Raleigh)

BY CHRIS HOCKER

The Beaches brought their No Hard Feelings Tour to a packed Ritz Raleigh on September 21st.

i have been a big fan of The Beaches for awhile now. I first became familiar with them seeing them open for The Aces in 2021. I named "Blame Brett" my 22nd favorite song of 2023. 2025 has been a big year for The Beaches with the release of their latest album, No Hard Feelings, in August. Needless to say, I wasn't going to miss their show in Raleigh.

Singer Jordan Miller, guitarist Kylie Miller, guitarist Leandra Earl, and drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel hit the stage around 9:00 PM last night. They immediately launched into "Last Girls At The Party," the lead single off No Hard Feelings. Their stage was minimal, with several stands and tons of lights. One of the highlights of the show for me was hearing "Grow Up Tomorrow" from 2022's End of Summer EP. That's always been my favorite song of theirs.

Before the band performed "Did I Say Too Much," Jordan Miller shared with the crowd that she felt her ex-boyfriend's new song was about her and told him so and wanted to know if she "said too much." The crowd screamed, "NO!" The Beaches then brought up a fan who had just taken a pregnancy test that day and found out she wasn't pregnant.

But the highlight of the show was "Lesbian Of The Year." Kylie Miller and Eliza Enman-McDaniel left the stage and Leandra Earl took the mic, explaining why "Lesbian Of The Year" was such an important song to her and she talked about coming out. She then started playing the song on keyboards while Jordan Miller sang. It was beautiful.

The band will be on their No Hard Feelings Tour until November 15th.

[message]

CHRIS HOCKER, Editor

Strange Carolinas started as a hobby for Chris Hocker who often dragged his family to offbeat detours on family vacations. Hocker decided to start photographing and writing about these roadside attractions and in June 2014, launched Strange Carolinas with a story on Myrtle Beach's KISS Coffeehouse. In addition to chronicling over 400 attractions across the Carolinas, Strange Carolinas has also become an impressive music blog.