so i have been holding off on writing about tennis for a while now. first i wanted to wait until their debut Cape Dory came out, and then i wanted to wait until my lp arrived, and then i found out they were coming to toronto and decided to post on their show... and after this long, laborious crusade, we find ourselves here.
i'll open by saying that Cape Dory is, and will be, my favourite album of 2011. i love the band; i love their sound, their aesthetic, their husband-and-wife dynamic, their breezy sailing motif. all of this is delightfully true to form in their live performances. i had the chance to see them at the horseshoe last night and they were rather lovely. alaina moore is a bundle of energy in a flowery top and red bouncing red curls, stepping away from the keyboard when given the opportunity to prance about. and yes, her voice is more than capable of handling the lilting heights of even more difficult tracks like Marathon with ease. husband patrick riley was stalwart despite a somewhat sweltering stage temperature, with touring drummer james barone (i think - they've been through a couple) providing the swinging drumbeat that brings the band's sound together.
tennis' time on stage was necessarily brief - with only Cape Dory's 10 short tracks to work from, a few new songs they've self-admittedly pulled together on the road to round out their set, and a rather adorable cover of brenda lee's Is It True, the set lasted about 45 minutes. short and sweet was the name of the game here, with moore opening most tracks with a quick one-liner (Pigeon, the band's love ballad, was introduced with 'this song is about patrick', bringing about something of a swoon from the otherwise hipster-brand ambivalent crowd). Marathon, being the band's most-circulated single, naturally was the best-received by the crowd, and was arguably the highlight of the night; though i will always have a soft spot for Long Boat Pass.
touring mates holiday shores opened up the evening with with a young, beach house/the drums-sounding set. local talent (and apparently political players) the darcy's followed up with what i thought was a rather loud set, considering who they were opening for, but if that's your thing, you can download their latest 7" here.
tennis - long boat pass
tennis - pigeon
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