The Beaches "Blame My Ex Tour" Show Review - November 5th, 2023 (Winnipeg, Manitoba @ The Burton Cummings Theatre)

 

The Beaches w/ special guests Beach Weather show review (November 5th, 2023) (poster courtesy of The Burton Cummings Theatre website)

Toronto indie/alt-pop four-piece The Beaches took the stage alongside Beach Weather on Sunday night at the Burton Cummings Theatre, as part of the 2023 Blame My Ex tour, in support of their album of the same name, which came out in September on AWAL Recordings.

The night opened promptly at 8pm, with Beach Weather from Massachusetts, USA. They play a brand of jangly indie and pop rock similar to most of The Beaches recent stuff, however I would more accurately compare them to a band such as The Neighborhood, The Wallows or Hotel Ugly; something more in that laidback indie feel.

Beach Weather played about 40 minutes of their material, which is great for a highlight reel of what they offer in terms of their tunes. They played a handful of their popular songs from their two 2016 EP's, 'Chit Chat' and 'What a Drag', and some from their most recent album, 'Pineapple Sunrise', including their viral-on-the-internet hit, Sex, Drugs, Etc. (which was first released on their debut EP, but rereleased years later). The bands' live stage presence and vibe oozes sunny day beach vibes, and frontman Nick Santino (of A Rocket to the Moon fame) oozes sexual attitude with a great voice. What I enjoyed about these guys live presence the most, is their dynamics; a tendency to go from a great power pop tune to an emotional, rock 'n roll destruction fest with their instruments in mere minutes. 

The Beaches came on stage at 9:10pm, and delivered a set of both new and old hits and album cuts, including their latest album being played in full. Other favorites that aren't found on Blame My Ex include Grow Up Tomorrow, T-Shirt and Money. The only song that I noticed that was notably missing from any of their setlists (including this one) was Lame, but I'm not complaining. A major highlight of their set included Nick from Beach Weather coming on stage to sing with Jordan for My Body ft. Your Lips. Other notable moments included the crowd chanting enthusiastically during the song that changed The Beaches lives', 'Blame Brett', which went viral on TikTok this year, as well as the acoustic performance of If A Tree Falls - a personal favorite track of mine from this album.

The sold-out Beaches show at the Burton Cummings Theatre lived up to my expectations, and even smashed some. I've been looking into going to more indie/pop-centered shows, and this one was an extremely fun one, and a band I'll be looking more into as well as attending more shows in the future. I think the only thing that hindered my excitement a little bit was just how big the sold-out crowd was, and being pushed back slowly (I was on the floor for reference). Overall, I'll give this experience a 4/5 stars. Much love to The Beaches and Beach Weather, and I wish them well on the rest of their tour, where they go out to western Canada, then Europe later this month and USA (again) next year!

-Fish 

The Beaches 'Blame My Ex' now available on streaming services and thebeachesband.com

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Locater 'Clandestine" album release show review w/ Guilty Sleep, Agapito.

 

Nicholas Gammon and Brendan McLean of Locater playing at the Goodwill Social Club, February 25th 2023. Photo by Justin Fisher

Locater (FKA Louser) played a release show in celebration of their new album 'Clandestine', which was released February 17th, 2023 on No Sleep Records. This is a bit of a recap and review on the shoegaze/punk show, plus some pictures that I took that I liked.

The show opened with the band Guilty Sleep, a newcomer to the indie/shoegaze scene. They just finished recording some music with Griffin of Winnipeg easycore act, A Grizzly Fate on the board. Guilty Sleep consists of guitarist/vocalist Eric Ducharme, guitarist/vocalist Haise, drummer Liam Sewell (of Co Komono/Seweller/Jupiter Meltdown) and bassist Nick Paluck (of Jupiter Meltdown). 

Guilty Sleep perform at The Goodwill Social Club. Photo by Justin Fisher

Guilty Sleep play a blend of grunge and emo influenced shoegaze, with lush guitar soundscapes, big drums and even a telephone mic akin to Deftones. They can make you feel floaty, but also have some fast-paced songs that make you want to jump or mosh. They'll be a band to look out for in the future when they start releasing music. I absolutely loved their set and I can't wait to see more of their stuff. Despite the band name, the bombastic, spontaneously loud sound of this band will not make you want to sleep.

Agapito was the next band of the night, and I went in blindly, having never heard anything. They absolutely blew my mind with their mixture of post/progressive hardcore with a rock and roll energy. Agapito is more-or-less a supergroup, with a former member of Comeback Kid and Mike Peters from Cancer Bats on drums. I didn't get any pictures unfortunately, because I was so entranced by the bands performance. From the lead vocalists' rock and roll attitude to the colourful melodies used on both the guitars and the basslines. There was even a point where the rack tom fell over because of how hard this bands' music hits! This is a band you NEED to see, where the live experience is going to be so much different from a studio release. Keep an eye out for more music and shows from them, and also check out Cancer Bats if you're not familiar with them.

The last band was Locater, of course. Bit of backstory, they used to go under the name 'Louser' until early February 2023, but due to legal issues, were forced to undergo a name change. The band released one 'self-titled' EP under that name, but Clandestine was released right after their name change, after signing to No Sleep Records. The band consists of core members Nicholas Gammon on vocals, Sean Kaye on bass, Nick 'The Fonz' Fondse on guitar and Jesse Hardie on drums. For the release show, Brendan McLean (who has played with Elder Abuse/Higherlows/etc) hopped on 2nd guitar. Some of the bands these core members have played in include: Witchtrip, Ceilings, Elder Abuse and Badfriend. Locater's style is a mixture of grunge and shoegaze, reminiscent of bands like Narrow Head, Teenage Wrist and Nothing. The show itself was intimate, with an awesome vibe when it came to the lighting. I was talking to my photographer friend Brittany Lambert after the show, she was saying when it came to editing, the lighting was a challenge but one that she enjoyed. The projector visuals on the ceiling added a nice effect to the show. The setlist included a good handful of the great tracks from Clandestine, as well as some classics from their 2019 'self-titled' EP including Vitamin L.

Saturday was an amazing night, full of seeing some great friends and even better music. Thanks to Locater, Guilty Sleep and Agapito for the great hangs and the awesome photographers (Brittany, Matt) working the show, as well as the Goodwill for hosting a great weekend of music. Cheers everyone.

Locater Spotify 

Agapito Spotify

My personal instagram

Holdfast/Brittany Lambert Photography

Matt Friesen Photography