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GZA FRIDAY JULY 11 EKALI SATURDAY JULY 12 LTJ BUKEM FRIDAY JULY 18 G-SPACE SATURDAY JULY 19 CONDUCTA SATURDAY JULY 26 AHEE THURSDAY JULY 31 KATE BERLANT FRIDAY AUGUST 1 JUSTIN MARTIN & DESTRUCTO FRIDAY AUGUST 8 TROPIDELIC & SHWAYZE FRIDAY AUGUST 15 MOUNTAIN GRASS UNIT burning the candle at both ends for a very long time,” he says, “and it’s clear that the candle is reducing at a quicker rate than we were expecting.” Tennis caught fi re right from the begin- ning, when its studio debut, Cape Dory, went viral with the help of early social network website MySpace. A whimsical retelling of Moore and Riley’s fi rst nautical adventure together — an eight-month sailing trip across the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard — the album made waves in the budding “blog rock” DIY scene back then. Record deals and late-night TV appearances — Leno, Letterman, Conan — quickly followed the 2012 release of sopho- more LP Young & Old. All of a sudden, Tennis became a household name. “It felt like too much too fast,” Moore admits now, especially for a budding band with no expectations of touring nationally, let alone blowing up so big. Luckily, Tennis is a quick study. The mo- mentum didn’t subside, and the band, which currently includes longtime touring drum- mer Steve Voss and bassist Ryan Tullock, built an impressive indie-rock resume. There are many buzzworthy ballads, particularly on the chart-topping Yours Conditionally (2017), and memorable shows, including the special “The Music of David Lynch” event, hosted by the David Lynch Foundation, in 2015. Tennis even collaborated with the popular cartoon show Rick and Morty on a single, “Borrowed Time,” for a 2021 episode. But headlining Red Rocks in 2022, post- COVID, was “the most memorable show of our entire lives,” Riley says. “Pretty much everyone cried. We cried, a lot of people in the crowd were crying. It was just this moment of release for everyone,” he says of their fi rst and only appearance at the longstanding Colorado music cathedral. It’s been a good run, no doubt, and before saying goodbye, Tennis is sharing an EP of deep cuts — Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010 — on May 16. Putting out the latest and earliest versions of themselves so close together was intentional, Moore explains. “I hear all the potential and so much free- dom and a lack of self-consciousness in the songwriting,” she says. “We don’t have that anymore, but I remember what it was like to have it, and it was really, really special. It just felt really sweet to remember ourselves at that stage.” After the curtains close on Tennis for the last time in September, the couple is planning a sailing trip, a favorite pastime that’s interwoven into their music. But Moore and Riley are pon- dering selling their boat afterwards and settling into a “life of stillness,” as Moore describes it. Whether that includes making music in some form or other, time will tell, but right now she is more focused on a memoir project that she started fi ve years ago, while Riley wouldn’t mind getting back into the remodeling biz, given his former gig as a contractor. “I’m turning forty this year and the most exotic thing I can think of is just being home, having plants or a dog and helping your friend move because you’re there, or going to your friend’s engagement party because you’re actually home,” Moore says. “I want those things. Those are some of the sacrifi ces we’ve made to prioritize other things, our creative life, a life of seeing the world and traveling,” she concludes. “It’s been amazing. We started all of these things when we were 22, but I’m defi nitely ready for this new chapter of stillness and groundedness.” Tennis, with Real Estate, 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 26, Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop Street Tickets are $45-$109. Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley are sailing off into the sunset. Music continued from page 19 COURTESY JAY SIMON
