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Tennis at First Avenue (May 21, 2025)
Tour Dates † w/ Special Guest Billie Marten Previously: Tennis at First Ave (April 8, 2023) We first saw them open for Sharon Van Etten in 2012… Then we saw them headline the Communion #2 Show in Nov 2013… My favorite was seeing them at the Fine Line in Oct 2014… The last time we saw Tennis, it was Triple Rock Social Club in Mar 2017… 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. [ Continue Reading Tennis at First Ave (April 8, 2023) ] Read More
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Downtown Minneapolis was crowded on a drizzly Wednesday evening. The dominant Minnesota Lynx were at the Target Center taking on Dallas, and the 7th St. Entry had a fabulous line up of local bands, including an album release from Magenta Vice and headlined by North Innsbruck. Over at the main stage of First Avenue, there was a farewell tour for indie band Tennis.
Billie Marten (Isabella Tweddle) is a British musician who had her first EP in 2014 at the age of 15. She has released four albums since then, and has a fifth, Dog Eared, set to drop in July, 2025. This was her first show in support of the headliner, but what a start. It was simply Marten on guitar and singing, but wow, it was enchanting. This Is How We Move, the third number, was a good example of what Marten is bringing as an artist: clear lyrics and fine guitar work. She switched between acoustic and electric guitars prior to the next song.
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Billie Marten at 7th Street Entry (June 16, 2023)
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Even on electric guitar, Marten was playing more quietly that most artists would. Mice was a lovely number, with a repeated lyric that many could empathize with, ending with “I’m tired”. Marten said (and I think honestly), “You’re so quiet and respectful.” And while some of that may have been the crowd, a lot of it was her ability to draw people into her musical world. The lyrically darker Cartoon People was next, with the ending of “Maybe there’s a fire today, maybe it’s not going away”. The song Crown was off the new album, which she started to say would be at merch, but doesn’t come out for a while yet. Marten doubled down on her appreciation of the crowd, “You’re what the English call top notch”. A very nice song Toulouse was just prior to the ending of the set with I Can’t Get My Head Around You. Marten had made a real impression on the crowd, and seemingly the reverse was also true.
The headliner, Tennis, came to the stage. The Denver duo, husband-and-wife team Patrick Riley (guitar, backing vocals) & Alaina Moore (keyboards, lead vocals) are on their last tour before retiring the band. Their seventh and most recent album, Face Down in the Garden, came out last month (April, 2025). Starting with At the Apartment, from the new album, Tennis came out swinging for the fences. It was interesting to watch a band on their last run, as they really have nothing but their love for the music and performance left. And it’s pretty clear, that whatever the reason they are hanging it up, they still love a lot of this. The quartet (Riley, Moore, a bassist and a drummer) were out there to rock. No Exit has the outstanding lyric, “I am ecstatic like a hymn”, and the band propelled the crowd into a happy place.
Matrimony brought Moore out from behind the keyboards to sing and dance a little. The next number, One Night with the Valet, had Moore move to a piano. This was a well thought out and choreographed show. After thanking Billie Marten for the opening set, they moved to Weight of Desire, focusing on the newest album. Forbidden Doors, off of the wonderful album Pollen, got a strong audience cheer as it got going. Moore is a particularly fun performer, and carried things forward throughout. Hotel Valet, also off of Pollen had Riley at keyboards and Moore dancing out front again.
This concert was not messing around. More than ten songs in, Tennis just kept ratcheting things up. Glorietta was a great number, allowing Riley to have several key moments on guitar and eventually had Moore on a guitar as well. We got a “crazy” tour story about when a former sound guy got a finger being bitten off (which admittedly, is crazy), but somehow “everyone ended up alright”. 12 Blown Tires was a song trying to capture all of those crazy things that can happen.
Riley was back to keys and Moore back to the front as they continued to move through their set. Runner was a fast-paced song that gave Riley another guitar solo moment, and Moore with some punchy vocals. We got some obligatory tambourine on I Can Only Describe You and the bassist playing keyboards during the guitar solo. That ability of the band to play multiple instruments allowed for some nice variations on the musical theme. A sustained set of applause had the band basking in the moment, and getting the well-deserved love. Need Your Love had Moore back at the piano and the crowd singing along. It also ended the main set, with the band ultimately coming back for a brief encore. The first one, I’ll Haunt You, had Riley and Moore face to face on piano and keys, which seemed very fitting. And finishing with Pollen Song, Tennis had an adoring crowd sending them out of Minneapolis for the final time.
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