Last Friday the concert I’ve been organizing for over a month took place, featuring the Denver-based group Tennis and LA-local Kisses. It was one of the most stressful days of my life. I kept thinking of all the terrible scenarios that could occur that would turn the night into one hella-mediocre event that students would be all “eh” about. Fortunately, shit came together last minute and I got to have that feeling when everyone is happy for you and patting you on the back and you’re listening to sweet jams with everyone you like and people are happy, because of something you did. I mean, I pretty much just made up “that feeling”… but it happened, and it felt like my birthday!
Kisses took the stage first just after 8 and I pulled the crowd off the couches and up to a mark about 10 feet from Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson, the band’s adorable couple/duo. They played for about 35 min, and their set included “Kisses,” “People Can Do The Most Amazing Things,” and “Bermuda,” 3 of my favorite recent songs. The band has a dancey vibe, but the vocals are so Jens Lekman I can’t quite get onboard with the common “disco” description. People were groovin’ though, and I was all smiles. Every song ended with applause, and all of us kids at the front were sad to see them go.
Kisses:
After a short set change and a little mingling, Tennis took the stage. Tennis is ALSO fronted by an adorable couple (albeit married!) Alaina Moore charmed us with her Polly Pocket sex appeal and bite sized stage banter. They sang every song I knew of theirs (which is about… 6-7 songs…) and a new one that they had never performed before! Standouts were probably “South Carolina” and “Marathon”, two tracks of their Marathon EP. Although an album has yet to drop, Tennis is planning on releasing their debut within the next few months. Their set was super fun and feel-good. I was swaying and foot tapping like nobody’s business.
Tennis:
While seeing the bands off and thanking them excessively for coming out, Alaina told me that the show was overall more enjoyable and the crowd was more fun than their sold out show at The Echo the night before. How’s that 5C students? Thanks for coming out and making it memorable for everyone!
Reviewed by Ari Mygatt
Photos by Ari Mygatt