 Je Les Aime!
The Caterina Winery was filled to the top of the wine glass with, as Patrick from Mon Cheri said, “Old friends, New Friends, and Current Friends.” I have only been to the Caterina Winery a handful of times but I have never seen it this full. For $5 you got in the door, $10 got you in and a CD, and $15 got you in, a CD and free drinks! I thought that was a neat way to get people excited to have Mon Cheri’s new CD.
To get the night started Kurt Olson stood in the middle of the audience in the twinkling light room of the Caterina and spoke his beautiful words as he played the accordion. He always leaves me speechless live. The way he talks and moves his hands and uses his voice when he reads his poetry is very moving. He is a romantic without a doubt and he could have easily swooned any lady in the room with a single sentence. He also has strong words to speak it’s not all about love (the good and the bad). I thought that Kurt Olson was a great way to start the night because not only did it showcase his poetry, but we got to see him play his bass as well in Mon Cheri, but I will get to that later.
Rajah and Kim were up next. Now I have seen Rajah around the local music scene before and Kim is the same Kim that rocked the violin for Kaylee Cole. So, I was excited to see the duo together!
I went up and talked to both of them before the show, and found out that Rajah Bose did all the album photos for Mon Cheri’s new CD. When I got home that night I looked at it and it is very cool, I love the paint and the colors and how there is a stunning photo for each song title. Very artistic, very Mon Cheri.
Back to Kim and Rajah. I loved their set. I want to hear them play as I sit outside with a gorgeous sunset and a glass of wine. Rajah really has strong vocals but (if this makes any sense) still are calming and complimented Kim nicely. Mon Cheri joined the duo on stage soon and that was darling. When else are you ever going to see that happen again? They all sounded great together, with big smiles on their faces. There were also a lot of instruments on stage Caroline even got to play a banana morocco, Curious George would be so jealous.
I sat on the floor in the front in awe watching the chemistry between everyone on stage; it was very smooth and relaxing. Among the banana morocco, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele, violin, they also invited a good friend that goes by the name Morgan to play the glockenspiel in a song! Between the clapping for co-workers and Kim putting a 9-volt battery on her tongue the set ended up being fun and silly too – who doesn’t love that? The ended their set with Caroline’s favorite song Viking Funeral and Mon Cheri took the stage next!
 Mon Cheri glowed on stage, they all were dressed to impress with ties and sport jackets and Caroline in this darling Urban Outfitters dress – they looked great and it was their night to shine.
Patrick opened the set out with how he just wanted to give everyone a big hug and then Kurt runs out into the audience and actually gives out a hug. They started their set with “All I Have to Do is Dream” by The Everly Brothers and it sounded prefect just like it did at the Knitting Factory.
They went on to play the second song of their album titled “Precious Thing.” Everyone clapped along when they were asked to, and the audience was just as excited as Mon Cheri. Caroline was so excited she just had to keep jumping, you could tell it was going to be a great night.
To me Mon Cheri is full of class, elegance, and romance. They just remind me of a band you would hear at dance back in the 50’s, there is nothing negative about them it’s just happy and perfect. When you talk to the band everyone is just as sweet as they sound.
 Mon Cheri serenaded the audience that night with their dreamy echo’s, big smiles, and love for music. After hearing them sing “Across the Universe” again, I just got chills; they should have been on the soundtrack to the Beatles music movie Across the Universe.
They fit the Caterina like Cinderella’s glass slipper. It was also very cool that they bought food for the party and had the ticket prices set up so if you want you could get a very nice package!
Spokane Metro Magazine was there taking photos and passing out free issues of the magazine and was one of the Sponsors for the night. We got to talk to Josh who freelances for them and it’s actually a pretty cool publication. In the issue that was handed out, there was a super neat write up about Patrick at the Caterina. The best part is, is that it’s a $1 an issue so for $12 you get a year subscription. But for more info on the magazine check out spokanemetromag.com
I am excited to take a listen to the new Mon Cheri CD today and am sure it will sound just as lovely as they did live. It was a perfect CD release party at the Caterina on a Saturday night and I am excited to see where this band will go!
Check out more photos from the show HERE!
Andrea@checkitoutmusic.com |
