Mark Ward, The Pica Beats, and Mon Cheri at the Empyrean Coffee House on Friday, October 8th
I just truly love Mark Ward. The music is just a waltz through acoustic guitar riffs, occasionally a ukulele tune, and when he is by himself a kick drum. The lyrics and tone of his voice just glide through the music like a knife to butter. He is always charming live and it’s exciting to see him play. GO MARK WARD! Somehow we always manage to hear our jams to, even though lately we keep coming in halfway through his set. It’s meant to be that we hear Mark play, guiding us through the dark with a sparkle of his music.
Seattle’s The Pica Beats took the stage next and it is pronounced “pie-ka” just in case you were wondering. This band was full of she’s and him’s with two ladies and two gents. One gent on bass guitar who just joined the band a week ago, the other on guitar and vocals; a lady on drums, and a lady on percussion and vocals… she’s and him’s. It was a nice little mix of tunes, they keep a simple beat that will have your feet taping but still hold your attention. It was cool to see them and it was crazy to hear that this was their first time to Spokane because we are only four hours away. I hope they continue to travel along the road of music and that they someday come back to Spokane.
We hadn’t seen Mon Cheri in a while; it’s always fun to catch up with this saucy foursome. Tonight was kind of a shock because we really only knew a few songs from their set. I say shock because we own all of their albums/eps and listen to them enough to know their tunes. Do you know what this means…new music! The group took it up a notch tonight and we loved it, Brandon wailed away on the drums, Caroline was dancing all over the stage, Kurt killed it with the bass he had, and Patrick just brought it all together. They were having fun on stage and playing new tunes, including a song called “Back Slide.” It was just a nice way to end the evening with a talented bang. Even though it was a shorter set they reeled us in like they always do and we enjoyed every second of it. Be ready for new music from Spokane’s charismatic Mon Cheri.
Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.
