Farewell, Tennis | Tennis Concert Review

Crying in the club right now

My relationship with the band Tennis began freshman year of college when my best friend Austin thought I would like their songs “Mean Streets” and “In the Morning I’ll Be Better.” Austin was right, and I was instantly obsessed.

From then on, I would anticipate each release as if it were Christmas Day. I have been blessed to see them live three times (at Brooklyn Steel and Beacon’s Theater) and finally for their last ever NYC show this past Sunday, June 1st.

They announced before their tour and album came out that this would be their last album as Tennis. Many people speculated that they were getting a divorce, but they are just as in love as ever. They simply want to move on and explore other ventures. Patrick wants to write a book, they may plan to have kids, and they want to enjoy being married without the pressure to turn their love into something to be monetized. All very valid reasons, but that doesn’t make it any less bittersweet for the fans.

They are my favorite husband and wife duo. They are one of my biggest musical inspirations, and I can’t thank them enough for soundtracking my life for nearly a decade. I will miss them dearly. I cried when the news broke that “Face Down in the Garden” would be their last album. A respectable choice, but a loss for the music industry nonetheless. I will be following them in their future endeavors and hope to one day hire them to play at my wedding, LOL.

Below is my review of the concert, but before that, I implore you to read this legendary read that Alaina wrote to the writer who wrote their ridiculous Pitchfork review. Not as iconic as Halsey’s tweet, but I loved every word of it.

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Tennis Concert Recap

The set list was incredible. Not much different than the Pollen tour except there are less Pollen songs and more songs from across their discography.

The opener, Billie Marten, was super cute! I loved her vibe. She got lucky that there weren’t any crazy Knicks fans in the audience because her saying “let’s have a moment of silence for the Knicks” was crazy LOL. She’s British, she doesn’t get it. Austin and I were on the big screen during her set. I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me at a concert.

This was also the first Tennis concert that I experienced on the floor. Pier 17 is only GA and VIP with no elevated sections. I made sure to get there early so I could get a spot close to the stage. Austin and I were in the fourth row.

I have to shout out our concert buddies Emma and Matt, who offered to hold my vinyl for the entire concert so I didn’t have to worry about it. We got to talking and they told us that they have a 5-year-old son who is obsessed with Mariah Carey and specifically Touch My Body. He also has a playlist on Spotify, and Full Moon by Brandy was on it!!! That conversation restored my faith in the kids. The Kids are alright.

Tennis

While this was an extremely important moment for me and Tennis, I surprisingly didn’t cry! I was trying to be as present as possible and take in the moment. This being their last concert in NYC ever was notable enough. They revealed that this was also the largest crowd they’ve ever played to. I also finally got an explanation on why their called Tennis. It’s because Patrick used to teach Tennis to pay for their sailboat and then subsequent sailing adventures that fueled the content for their albums.

One thing about Tennis they do not waste time on stage. They came on at 8 pm and left promptly at 9:30 pm! I love every single one of their songs, so it went by so fast. “I’ll Haunt You” is one of my favorites by them, and it’s such a perfect show opener because it can now be interpreted as Alaina haunting us through Tennis’s music when they’re gone.

Alaina’s voice has gotten stronger. She has a naturally airy voice, but you can tell she is more confident. Such a shame that this is the last tour that we will hear her live vocals.

I also love their visuals. They are always so colorful and trippy. Perfect backdrops for their sometimes lo-fi songs.

Shout out to their hot drummer Steve

Usually at a concert, I am excited to hear the new album tracks, but since this was the last time I was seeing them, I was excited to hear my favorite songs by them for the last time. Particularly “Matrimony”, Glorietta/Pillow for a Cloud”, and “Pollen.”

Matrimony is such a beautiful song about their wedding story, and it always makes me emotional because I listened to it when my mom got married in July two years ago. I’ve wanted to get married in September for as long as I can remember, but I have thought about July just so I can relate to that song more.

Hotel Valet really took me there! Alaina singing to Patrick made my heart swoon. They are so in love, it’s so cute. I can’t express enough how much they are a couple of goals for me. This song is beautiful because it is part of their love story. They met in philosophy class, but Alaina was a waiter and Patrick worked as a valet in college.

As I stated in my review of their last concert in NYC at Beacon’s theater, they needed a background singer to do the harmonies.

Thank God they listened to me and had someone doing the harmonies for “In The Morning I’ll Be Better.” They didn’t call me like I wanted, but she did have a bob, so I’ll take it!

They close the show with “How to Forgive” and arguably their best song, “Need Your Love.”

There isn’t much to say as these songs and the performance are perfect. They played one of my favorites by them, “Pollen” for the encore.

The beginning of Pollen was in this sort of minor key, and I was really living for it. After the first verse, they played it how it is on the record, but it had more of a beachy vibe, which I loved.

Then they end the show with “12 Blown Tires,” which is about their tour bus breaking down on Interstate I-40. This is wild to me because I grew up around I-40. So they had to be somewhere around Arkansas.

Even when writing this post, it’s hard to put into words how grateful I am for Tennis and that I was able to attend their last NYC concert. They are a huge musical inspiration for me, and when I eventually make music, I will always go back to how their music makes me feel. I don’t think it’s hit me that they are really going to be gone soon. Their tour is wrapping up, and then that will be that. All I can say is thank you, Tennis, for the music, the memories, and the marriage inspiration.

P.S. Happy Pride!!! lol