Tennis at First Avenue, Minneapolis (08 April 2023)

Denver’s indie pop duo Tennis ( Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley) returns to Minneapolis, at First Avenue, on a busy Saturday night. The husband-and-wife duo is touring in support of their sixth studio album, Pollen.



Opening the show was Charlottesville’s Kate Bollinger, who was last in town in February 2022 with Faye Webster.
Bollinger is joined on stage with a full band, featuring Jacob on drums, Noah on bass, and Chris on guitar. If I misheard the names during the introducing the band announcement, I apologize.



The lyrically clever singer/songwriter played some new and unreleased songs, one that she called “Boys in my Head” and the new single, “Running” (available from her EP Look at it in the Light via Ghostly International), which is a bit of a grooving song that Bollinger described in an interview that “it’s a song about a failing relationship, a new time in my life, deep insecurity and anxiety, and wanting to be really known and loved by someone. I’ve tried lots of different styles of songwriting and I think I’ve made lots of things that don’t really reflect who I am anymore, but this song feels representative of the core of who I am.”



She covered a French song called “J’aime Les Filles”, originally by Jacques Dutronc. Translated to English, it means “I like the girls…” and the lyrics continues that he likes the girl in Castel, he likes the girls in Régine, he likes all girls. The lyrics are simple and silly, but Bollinger treats the song so seriously.



Prior to Tennis taking the stage, the venue played the entire Mono’s “Life in Mono” song. Not sure if it is by request by Tennis or the DJ/programmer decided to make this the introductory song.



Turn out for the show was terrific, with the dancefloor packed. This is the duo’s biggest headlining show to date, and it’s good to see the band grow their audience.

Tennis opening for (08 April 2012)

We first saw them open for Sharon Van Etten in 2012: “Tennis warmed up the crowd. They are based out of Denver, and I believe is driven primarily by husband and wife songwriting team. The band is from the east coast, but their music sounds like they’re from west coast.
Singer Alaina Moore mostly stayed behind her keyboard, but once in a while will step in the center with just a mic to do songs like her self-described ‘slowjam’ song, “My Better Self.””

Tennis (19 Nov 2013)

Then we saw them headline the Communion #2 Show in Nov 2013: “For Tennis’ oldest song, “Marathon” (from their 2011 album Cape Dory), singer Alaina Moore stepped away from her usual keyboard spot to center stage. Moore confessed that whenever she did that, it felt like she was at a talent show. For their final song, “Origins”, they had the Night Sweats’ saxophonist joined them on stage to finish the song.”

Tennis (07 Oct 2014)

My favorite was seeing them at the Fine Line in Oct 2014: “Tennis stopped by Minneapolis, but it’s always good to see the band again. The husband/wife duo is focused around singer/keys (and sometime guitar) Alaina Moore, who was feeling a little under the weather. It was bad enough that the band canceled their in-store appearance at Electric Fetus earlier in the day… and you can tell that the band is sorely looking forward to their break… that is until starting their second leg of their tour again in a week.”

Tennis (07 Mar 2017)

The last time we saw Tennis, it was Triple Rock Social Club in Mar 2017: “Now, feeling fresh and with new songs from Yours Conditionally, the band seemed rather excited to be back on the road. Judging from the attendance and fan support, singer Alaina Moore seemed really happy that people hadn’t forgotten about them. The title of the record and their song ‘Matrimony’, Moore would explain that it was in reference to their wedding day. They were sailing and ported in Baltimore and decided, for better or worst, that it was time have their wedding ceremony. With a quick self-haircut and her sister bringing them a last-minute vintage wedding dress (and no shoes!)… the “reluctant” wedding became their “best memory”.”

So it’s been a long time since we last saw the band. This is due to conflicting shows, or the fact that the COVID pandemic caused cancellations throughout the last few years. Seeing the band on stage, you can tell that the band is very excited to be playing live again. As you can see in some of the photos below, Alaina’s look is of love and adoration. It carries in the way she sings and how the band play to the beat.