Recap Tennis at the High Noon Saloon

“You guys are chillers,” said Tennis’ Alaina Moore, near the end of a very relaxing set at the High Noon Saloon Monday night. “We play to chillers and jammers, and you guys are chillers.”

It’s possible that the majority of the jammers in Madison skipped the show to stay downtown near the action, but it was just as likely that husband-and-wife duo Tennis’ sunburned ’60s pop and soothing seaside imagery was just more conducive to chilling, especially in a state this on edge and marred in a blistery winter. The only real concern was about how long Tennis would be able to make this respite last, with only one album—clocking in at less than a half hour—to its credit. But besides burning through every track off this year’s Cape Dory, Patrick Riley, Moore, and drummer James Barone brought along some new songs, one well-chosen Brenda Lee cover, and a lot of easy charm to round out the slightly short headlining set.

Cape Dory standouts like “Seafarer” and “South Carolina” bounced around a half-filled High Noon, with Riley’s chiming guitar shards and Moore’s cutesy cooing getting plenty of space to breathe, except for between the couples up front dancing cheek-to-cheek through the slow love song “Pigeon.”

While Riley simply let his playing and yacht-ready attire speak for him, Moore playfully bantered at the crowd as she pawed at her Hammond organ. “I was predisposed to like Madison,” she said. “My favorite college roommate ever was from Madison.” Maybe that’s why Tennis decided to share so many new songs with the crowd (“Robin,” “Hard Times,” and a third untitled), each one ringing out just as brightly as anything off the album, proving that Riley and Moore didn’t necessarily have to set sail again to whip up some more escapism.