I have seldom seen Bowery Ballroom as packed as it was last night for Tennis’ grand return to New York, a city that they’ve played more than any other despite being from the Mile High City of Denver. With their opening slot this past December at Terminal 5 with The Walkmen and School of Seven Bells, Tennis displayed incredible growth in a minimal amount of time. With last night’s show at Bowery, the trio further proved to a sold out audience that they deserve every bit of attention they’ve gotten in the past months.
Opening duties last night were tasked by Tallahassee’s Holiday Shores. The young four piece, led by Buddy Holly lookalike Nathan Pemberton, was poised, calm, and collected during their set. Though there were some issues with their vocal levels, Holiday Shores matched the fun calypso-infused pop found on their LP Columbus’d The Whim. One request for the band, however. Please find a steel drum player!
After a short intermission, Cali band, La Sera took to the stage. While many of their songs ran together a bit, the performance overall was definitely something I enjoyed. Mixed within the more standard guitar strumming were patterns and melodies that I really appreciated. This is particularly true with their newer tracks, which had an interesting groove and did an excellent job of showcasing Katy Goodman’s delicate, sweet voice. With a great stage presence and some fantastic new material, La Sera is bound to gain some attention on this tour.
Tennis, as they’ve done before, completely blew me away. With only a simple, three-member arrangement, they accomplish what many bands of their genre have difficulty with: capturing a unique feel with each song. The melodies stand out, the drum patterns are simple but are perfect for the music, and the vocals are superb. Alaina’s voice has a soft quality to it, but she managed to make it ring throughout Bowery, forcefully belting her words when the music required.
Tennis is a band that, after existing for only eight months, has hit a stride with their new material and their live performance. Winning over hearts and minds by being, for lack of a better word, delightful on stage. The musicality and creativity of their songs and performance is still the backbone of why they garner so much attention. The combination of guitar from Patrick and keys from Alaina are upbeat and tropical but surely never frivolous or trite. Tennis has hit the motherlode of fun meets substance.
