Tennis said farewell recently in their last DC-area show at The Anthem, and Micaela Cerball was there to photograph the husband-and-wife duo on stage!
The following article is adapted from a press release.
Not long ago, acclaimed indie-pop duo Tennis shared “12 Blown Tires,” the latest single from their highly anticipated new album, Face Down in the Garden, which arrived via their own Mutually Detrimental label on April 25. Produced and recorded by Tennis — Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore — in their Denver, Colorado, home studio, the album and new single mark the final recordings from this incarnation of Tennis. The accompanying Face Down in the Garden Tour landed at The Anthem on June 3, allowing Tennis to say farewell to Washington, DC.
“After finishing Face Down in the Garden, it became clear that we had said everything we wanted to say and achieved everything we wanted to achieve with our band,” said Alaina Moore.
“This will be our last studio album, at least in this configuration as Tennis. We are ready to pursue other creative projects and to make space in our lives for new things.”
Watch the official music video for “12 Blown Tires” by Tennis on YouTube:
Alaina gave a statement about the song “12 Blown Tires,” which was the last song Tennis performed live at The Anthem.
“On a cross-country drive at the end of tour, our van and trailer blew four tires in quick succession,” she said. “That particular stretch of highway was a tire graveyard. I counted the shredded remains of twelve tires from where we sat on the side of the road, swapping out our last spare. Our bad luck was heavily contrasted by the good night we’d just had in Houston. The highs and lows of touring are unnatural, disorienting. On the shoulder of I-40, I began writing the lyrics to ’12 Blown Tires.’ It is a constellation of memories from the road, and of our marriage, two endeavors that are completely, hopelessly entangled.”
She continued: “When we recorded ’12 Blown Tires’ a few months later, I had the sense of distilling the past 15 years into four minutes of music. It felt like the end of something, though I wasn’t sure what. Patrick and I spent most of our 20s and all of our 30s focused on Tennis. It has been the most joyous, bewildering, challenging, and humbling experience. After finishing Face Down in the Garden, it became clear that we had said everything we wanted to say and achieved everything we wanted to achieve with our band. This will be our last studio album, at least in this configuration as Tennis. We are ready to pursue other creative projects and to make space in our lives for new things. In that light, the tour feels more poignant, like a concluding thought. These two kids from Denver who only ever dreamed of playing a few house shows are very fulfilled. Perhaps we’ll see you on the road. As always, thank you.”
Tennis closed out their recording career with the release of Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010, an EP of previously unheard tracks from the very beginning of their artistic career, on May 16. The eight-song collection includes early versions of such fan favorites as “Cape Dory,” “Marathon,” “South Carolina,” “Baltimore,” and “Pigeon,” along with exclusive demo recordings of the never-before-available songs, “Key Largo,” “April and It’s Still Snowing,” and “One Day This Will Be a Good Songgg.”
Face Down in the Garden marked the seventh studio album from Tennis as well as the eagerly awaited follow-up to 2023’s critically acclaimed Pollen, which earned praise from Pitchfork as “reliably vibey and genuinely inspiring.”
Catch Tennis on their farewell tour!
Here are some photos of Tennis performing live at The Anthem on June 3, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Micaela Cerball.
