Tennis played Cake Shop w/ Family Portrait & Ducktails, Glasslands w/ Magic Bullets (pics & videos)

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photos by Jessica Amaya, words by Rachel Kowal

Tennis @ Glasslands
Tennis

Wednesday night's Underwater Peoples bill at the Cake Shop provided a welcome ray of sunshine to contrast the rainy, overcast days that characterized the first half of the week. The three artists of the evening kept their sets short and their sound swaggeringly upbeat. Though it seemed a bit odd choice to have Tennis play first, it was a nice change to see the room packed for the first band.

Tennis is primarily the musical project of married couple Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore, but they were joined by a drummer. Unlike some husband/wife musicians (Handsome Furs, ahem), Riley and Moore don't look like they're about to start groping each other on stage. They exchanged just smiles and a chaste kiss on the cheek before the show. Alaina Moore has a surprisingly strong voice with the slightest hint of Southern twang to it though she and Riley currently reside in Colorado. The crowd at most shows builds with each additional act, but for Wednesday night, the trajectory for the evening was a bit unique. The room seemed to be the most crowded for Tennis - not a bad feat for a band making its very first appearance in the city.

Next up was Family Portrait. The crowd thinned noticeably as soon as Tennis had finished playing, but a number of people filtered back in after taking a brief respite from the sweltering basement room. Family Portrait played a brief set of dreamy, woozy, beach music that easily transitioned into the music of its musical cousin Ducktails, which also features a member of the Jersey-based lo-fi band Real Estate.

Ducktails is primarily the solo project of Matt Mondanile, but three other musicians joined him to help create a fuller sound. Before they began to play, Matt leaned into the microphone to address the sound guy. As he spoke, it quickly became apparent that there was enough reverb in his voice to render it almost indecipherable, but the effect nicely complimented the music's hazy, swirling melodies. Given the blissful undertones of the music and the name of the project, it was hard not to feel a wave of nostalgia (even though the TV show is technically spelled differently).

In keeping with the flow of the evening, Ducktails played a short set - just eight songs in all and no encore, but spirits were high and at least a few people in the modestly sized crowd heeded Mondanile's prompt to "shake around and dance a little bit."

Tennis played their 2nd NYC show the next night, Thursday, at Glasslands. Family Portrait was again on the bill, as was Magic Bullets and COOLRUNNINGS. At least two people I talked to went for Tennis and walked away a fan of Magic Bullets (who one more NYC show on Saturday). More pictures from the Glasslands show and some videos, below...

Night Manager

Night Manager

CoolRunnings

Cool Runnings

Family Portrait

Family Portrait

Magic Bullets

Magic Bullets

Tennis

Tennis

Tennis

Magic Bullets @ Glasslands Gallery 8/26/2010

Tennis @ Glasslands Gallery 8/26/2010

Tags: COOLRUNNINGS, Ducktails, Family Portrait, Glasslands Gallery, Magic Bullets, Night Manager, Tennis

posted at 12:14 AM on August 28, 2010 in music | pictures | Comments (24)

Comments (24)

That backdrop is so psychedelic, I started to wonder if someone slipped a little LSD in my hummus.

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 12:20 AM

lmao at the drum player from tennis. might want to rethink that wifebeater homeboy

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 1:08 AM

lmao at "drum player"

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 2:16 AM

cake shop show was kewl.

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 2:54 AM

NGHT MNGER RLZ SO HARD!!!!1111

Posted by Cat Sacks | August 28, 2010 4:48 AM

Yay! My first time in a "crowd shot" on BV. I'm going to go make myself a trophy.

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 6:23 AM

When I saw the lead photo, I thought someone had photoshopped the band into a picture from the war in Iraq.

Posted by Kurt C. | August 28, 2010 8:37 AM

this has to be the funniest collection of band names I've heard in sometime. I really wanted to see pictures of Ducktails though!

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 10:02 AM

man, amazing set of photos

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 10:27 AM

That Tennis clip starts off sounding like it's going to be a cover of the doo-wap hit ""Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)"

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 10:48 AM

Tennis was great at Cake Shop. No pics from that night? Here's a video someone shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ozY33TdDAo

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 1:51 PM

Was it half off the door for nerds?
Lots there, it seems.

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 2:01 PM

Tennis minus low fi production = boring MOR college bar band with singer who wants to be Shania Twain. The could play their instruments, but this is nothing to get excited about and you can see this kind of stuff at The Bitter End on a Tuesday. Sorry.

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 3:56 PM

Magic Bullets were awesome!!

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 7:32 PM

is there a blog where people like good music? any suggestions?
I am tired of bv and people who hate life ... i mean dang... where do you all hide... i mean are you guys assholes in real life too? or are u compensating... what gives?

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 11:04 PM

There is, but I don't want to give it away...here let's do a jumble:

sopmie eniagmza

I guess it's not a blog, but proper music.

Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2010 11:41 PM

guess it's not a blog, but proper music

Posted by سكون | August 29, 2010 3:35 AM

BIG SHOW ON DRUMS AWSOME!

Posted by Anonymous | August 29, 2010 1:07 PM

This stuff needs to stop! Awful!!

Posted by Anonymous | August 29, 2010 10:42 PM

10:03 / 1:51 - photos from Cake Shop