The Beaches + Alessia Cara @ Jean-Doré Beach▪

When I hiked out to the CGV Experience, I can’t lie, I was hyped to finally see The Beaches perform a stage set in Montreal. As someone who grew up watching Family Channel, this was an impressive double bill. My mom loves Alessia Cara, but she did not care for Done with Dolls, so I got to rediscover them myself after their rebrand to The Beaches. I got into them just before they played MTELUS on October 28, 2023, to promote their album Blame My Ex, which came out on September 15, 2023, but I only knew a few songs, so I skipped it. This would come back to bite me in the ass.

The Beaches seem to love partying in Montreal, but not on their normal tour stops, only for festival dates. Which, honestly, is probably their tour manager’s choice more than the band’s decision. But with the F1 concert and race experience an eye-watering $350 before they quietly added a tier just for concerts for just under $200, and then kept lowering the prices until just before the concert, and with their last tour stop being Osheaga instead of an arena like other dates, the entry fee to see them in Montreal has been higher than any other city in Canada. It’s extremely financially inaccessible for most of their Montreal fans to see them. It was actually cheaper for me to get the train to Ottawa and buy last-minute tickets for my brother and me than it would have been for just me to see them at Osheaga. In contrast, Alessia Cara played MTELUS last year.

Not listed on the website, but part of the experience was the hour-and-15-minute hike against THOUSANDS of F1 fans to get from the ticket entrance to the stage on Ile Notre-Dame before The Beaches went on. I made it with only 10 minutes to spare despite beating the media accreditation time for check-in. It’s always great to see Canadian bands perform, especially when they’re as talented as The Beaches and Alessia Cara. I love when there’s a double headliner, and I know both of them!

I was incredibly impressed with Jordan’s determination to be in nothing but a bra and cargo pants because, after running around in the photo pit like a chicken with my head cut off, I was freezing and started donning layers. I’m also sorry to everyone who confused me for Meg Moon, and honestly, she’s who I want to be when I grow up. It’s been forever since I saw a Yashica twin-lens reflex. Let alone one at a concert! Iconic, honestly. Almost as iconic as the terrible F1 dub-over when the actors on Off Campus say Coachella, as well as slapping the F1 logo over Coachella in the subtitles.

Truthfully, The Beaches have been doing this for over a decade, and as Eliza said during the concert, they’re moving from their professional era to their deluxe era as of June 5. As seasoned pros, they exude just the right balance of not giving a fuck and doing everything they can for their friends. I mildly fear for their livers, but honestly, I’m sure their OHIP cards are up to date, so they’ll be fine.

They have a unique sound with Jordan’s gravelly voice, which was admittedly having a really rough go of it in the cold and with them travelling so much. Her voice kept breaking and cracking, but she was determined to perform, and I am glad she did. I remember when the Internet found out Jordan smokes cigarettes, and a few people were shocked. I remember looking at the comments like they grew five heads because you can hear the signature cigarette rattle throughout their discography. Not to mention all the references to smoking in their song lyrics.

Leandra was wearing a coverall with the sleeves uncuffed, but water is wet, so that was anticipated. Listen, I know Jordan gets a lot of attention as the lead singer, and the Miller sisters are often compared against each other or kept as a set. Plus, Leandra gets a lot of attention for being a lesbian, but I think Eliza deserves her flowers. Being the drummer is HARD, and she does it SPECTACULARLY. Her skills should be raved about much more frequently. I see you, girl. I am so sorry I didn’t get any spectacular photos of you, but I am only 5’9” and the stage was at least eight feet vertical, with your kit up on an additional platform.

While Jordan was committed to the fit despite the weather, Alessia was significantly more invested in being warm. She also came out in cargo pants, but she paired them with several layers, ending in a toque and thick insulated windbreaker. Which was honestly a smart choice because the mosquitoes were out for blood. One even ended up in my viewfinder. If any horror movie wants to steal that experience, feel free.

Alessia has a voice for ballads, and it’s still going strong after all these years. I was devastated that so many people packed up and left due to the cold and bugs. Her music is prime for dancing on the table at a brunch after a night of debauchery with your girls. Her voice and arrangements make you move your hips involuntarily.

I also didn’t know how much Alessia Cara I knew until I was awoken like a maple-flavoured sleeper cell. She lives mostly on my Canadiana playlist, but she’s definitely a Canadian icon, and unlike The Beaches, I don’t have any scandals or drama to report on. Just a respectful amount of ass-bopping and two-stepping at the back of the crowd, trying to keep the blood flowing to my freezing hands.

It was super weird to be at a concert that allows professional cameras. Usually, I have to hustle to get my camera put away as fast as humanly possible, but a lot of the people coming from the races to the concert had way nicer cameras than me. As someone who doesn’t follow F1 or any other motorsports, it was fascinating how many auxiliary people in my life were hyped to hear I was covering F1, only to be disappointed that I was exclusively covering concerts. It was really giving “I’m working the Charli concert this week!” “PUTH?!?” “XCX.” I did get to walk on the track to get back to Jean Drapeau, which was admittedly pretty cool.

If I’d wanted to make a drinking game for the evening, which I wouldn’t because I was working, I would have picked either: 1. Can you please give this to the band? 2. Where’s the afterparty tonight? Or my personal favourite, 3. Do you have Leandra Earl’s phone number!? Sorry to disappoint everyone, but 1. I don’t work for the band, so I can’t give them anything. 2. I have no idea. Honestly, I finished this concert and went to my girlfriend’s place to have a late-night cuppa while my photos backed up. Thrilling domesticity. 3. The most popular question, and the answer is a hard no! I don’t have any of the band’s numbers. I did meet them all at the Last Girls at the Party DJ set, and they were all funny and cool, but photographers don’t usually know the band.

I will say there is an untapped market for lesbian matchmakers because I had my My Girlfriend is Hot as Fuck hat on, and multiple people in the crowd asked how I managed to find a girlfriend in this economy and if either of us had any hot and single friends. So if you’re single and looking for a girlfriend, I would highly recommend looking confused at a Beaches concert.

Honestly, I think that this F1 concert was less well attended than the Last Girls at the Party DJ set that The Beaches did at Ausgang Plaza on August 2, 2025, and it’s not for lack of fans in Montreal. I could also be bitter because my favourite Beaches song, Edge of the Earth, has EXPLODED, up over 800%, in popularity this week due to the show Off Campus on Amazon Prime featuring their Coachella set, which I livestreamed back in 2025 💅✨💖. This collaboration has catapulted them into the spotlight and brought them so many new fans.

Truthfully, it’s bittersweet for me. On one hand, I’m super hyped about the song and band I love finally getting the support they deserve, but it’s on the coattails of a straight author who, despite writing several gay male romances, openly fetishizes lesbians for the straight male characters in her books and has stated that she will not centre lesbian romance as the main couple in her books. Listen, I’m a reasonable person. Lesbians don’t need to be the centre of everything, but to only include them when it’s plot-convenient to make her straight male characters rock solid and say that lesbian couples aren’t interesting enough to be main characters is abysmal, misogynistic, and lesbophobic. It’s 2026, and that’s not very lesbian of the year of The Beaches.