Tennis with Kate Bollinger at the House of Blues
Review by Ali Kyrouz ‘25
Photos by Eva McNally ‘25
It’s hard to not be in a good mood listening to Tennis and Kate Bollinger. Tennis made me believe in love. On a balmy Monday night, the Denver-based indie pop duo brought their latest tour to Boston's House of Blues, with support from rising singer-songwriter Kate Bollinger. True to their carefully crafted aesthetic, the show was filled with dreamy melodies, retro vibes, and a perfect mood for the beginning of spring.
Kate Bollinger started the night with her characteristic soothing acoustic guitar and light vocals. Although seemingly not a recognizable name to some, she very clearly won over the crowd in only a few songs with her easygoing stage presence, slightly whimsical atmosphere, and pitch-perfect live vocals. In addition to bringing a playful groove with tracks “Who Am I But Someone” and “J’aime les filles,” Bollinger also played unreleased tunes listed on her setlist as “Boys in My Head” and “Any Day Now,” which I very much enjoyed—we’ll all have to wait for them to be released to experience the tracks again. Ending with crowd favorite “Lady in the Darkest Hour”, Bollinger and her band brought a much-appreciated chill vibe to their portion of the show. Although not necessarily dynamic in their stage presence, I found myself appreciating the coffee-house style atmosphere, and would be excited to see them again in the future. While we were disappointed to not get the chance to hear her top Spotify track “Yards / Gardens,” it was hard to complain at the end of Bollinger’s set, especially with the peek at new releases to look forward to.
Filtering on stage shortly after, Tennis opened their set with “One Night with The Valete“ one of their many autobiographical tracks. With signature blonde curls and a monochrome outfit, frontwoman Alaina Moore was clearly practiced at leading the audience. Alongside her, husband and guitarist Patrick Riley matched their 70s-surf imagery with hair that, when asked for help, my friend described as “like if you crossed Hanson and Johnny Ramone”. This, along with his telephone-cord-like guitar cable, was a key feature of the image for me.
Occasionally moving swiftly between keyboards at the front and middle of the stage, Moore was silhouetted by the band’s touring members, who had almost as much groove as she did. After their opening track, the group played the boppy track “My Emotions Are Blinding” and the more laid back “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar” off of the 2017 album Yours Conditionally, followed by “Runner” and “Forbidden Doors” from the 2020 release Swimmer, lit by soft blue light and a yellow gradient backdrop. Moore moved to center-stage and spoke directly to the audience as she continued with the crowd favorite track “Matrimony,” followed by throwback “Needle And A Knife” and recent release “Paper.” Moving from the light and dance-y “Diamond Rings” into “Hotel Valet” (which is something of a continuation of their opening track), followed with “No Exit,” “In The Morning I’ll Be Better,” and “How To Forgive,” it was clear that both the audience and the band were having a good time.
In an unexpected stand-out moment of the show, Moore took a break from singing to introduce a rather iconic Q&A intermission. As she and Riley had been married for thirteen years, she explained, they would field questions about the secret to a marriage with the apparent joy and longevity of theirs. Calling on excited members of the audience, the duo talked about their favorite things about each other, recounted the story of how they met (as told in companion tracks “One Night with The Valet” and “Hotel Valet”, they met while Pat worked as a valet at a hotel near the restaurant where Alaina worked as a waitress), and finally, charmed me saying that their second favorite thing to do together, right after making music, was skateboarding. Moore explained, when they were in college, they used to like to ride bikes around “with a boombox on the back,” but recently on tour they had gotten more into skateboards. Somehow this pulled everything together for me—Tennis is just having earnest, unironic, good vibes, something that I think we could all use a little more of. (As one would hope, the Tennis instagram promotion for the Boston tour date did feature a video of Pat skateboarding)
After the Q&A, we heard more tracks off of Swimmer and Pollen, including a personal favorite: the almost-titular track “Pollen Song.” Performed downtempo compared to the album release, Moore first sat at the piano to deliver a slowed, heartfelt first verse, illuminated by a shimmering blue backdrop and spotlight, before bringing Tennis’ signature retro style to transition into the true windows-down, springtime energy of the tune.
In contest for my favorite moment of the show, Tennis ended their night by playing three encore tracks: “I’ll Haunt You”, “My Better Self”, and “Glorietta.” In burnt orange lights and a pearlescent background, Moore brought a gorgeous wind-down to the show playing piano center-stage in the twinkly, tranquil “I’ll Haunt You.” Finally, Tennis broke out a second guitar for Moore on “Glorietta”. In a performance as face-melting as dreampop gets, the duo finished on a high note, bringing a satisfying warm energy to close out the show on a song that I have since listened to on repeat many times. Even for the uninitiated, Tennis’ dreamy-aesthetic pop and earnest good vibes left the whole crowd floating out the door.
