Mint Condition Spectacular at Dallas House of Blues

Mint Condition performing life at Dallas House of Blues

Mint Condition at the Dallas House of Blues April  5, 2012

It wasn’t Easter or even Good Friday yet, but that didn’t keep one of the  baddest bands in the land, Mint Condition, from whipping fans into a  Baptist-revival-worthy fervor and treating them to a spirited and spectacular  performance at Dallas’ House of Blues on Thursday night.

There was no  mention of the impending holidays, but the parallels that could be drawn from  the season of renewal and the band’s professional invigoration couldn’t be  denied, given that just after celebrating twenty years together, the St. Paul,  MN-based quintet raised their visibility profile with nightly appearances on TV  One’s 2011 series “Way Black When” as the house band, following that  accomplishment with their first pair of Grammy nominations at the top of 2012  (with the smash hit Kelly Price collaboration, “Not My Daddy”).

But the fans  that had been devoted to MC since the 1990s were the ones who showed up and  showed out that night, nodding along to the opening numbers from the latest CD,  7 (“Can’t Get Away,” “I Want It”) and jumping to their feet to sway and sing  along with instantly recognizable hits like “U Send Me Swingin’” and “So Fine,” prefaced with a declaration from lead vocalist Stokley Williams that “this is  for you ladies!”

The five-man collective, assisted in their set with  drummer extraordinaire Brandon Commodore, displayed their usual polish and  precision as performers: bassist Rick Kinchen thanked the crowd for “all of the  love you’ve shown us over the years” before plunging into “Why Do We Try,” which  was padded with extra layers of wah-wah guitar licks courtesy of Homer O’Dell  and wrapped up with a dueling drum-kit face-off by Mr. Commodore and Mr.  Williams. Admirers of ”Meant To Be Mint” and “Life’s Aquarium”  flew into  an ecstatic orbit soon after, thanks to the band’s inclusion of verses from “Forever In Your Eyes” and “If You Love Me,” sweet and celestial grooves that  they rarely, if ever, play live. “Not My Daddy” could’ve used the inclusion of  its co-writer and co-performer, Kelly Price, but Mint Condition skillfully  re-configured the words around her absence (“I’m not your daddy I’m your man,  you’re not my mama you’re my girl”) and earned a universal chorus of cheers and  back-up vocals from listeners as a reward.

The hour and a half-long set  featured more than a succession of fan favorites and soul-steeped singles about  the trials and triumphs of life and relationships (“Whoa,”  “Look Whatchu’ Done For Me,” “Sometimes,” “What You Bring To the Party”): it displayed the  strength of their bond, synergy between them as a unit and the affection they  hold for their fans. Lawrence El and Jeff Allen were deft and demonstrative  players, plying the songs with key strokes and sax solos that veered traditional  versions into the range of stratospheric and spellbinding, and the band’s  interwoven verses from other genres and formats (Bob Marley’s “Jammin’” slid  into “Caught My Eye,” which rolled into “Atomic Dog” before melting into “Love & Happiness”) were both organic and effortless.

The band’s most unique  asset, beyond self-contained instrumentation and lyrical content, is Mr.  Williams, due to his possessing a feline sense of grace, a sliding scale vocal  range and smoldering sex appeal that earns respect from male fans while reducing  their women to mush.

That potency was evidenced by the way many lined up  to meet the band even as they performed the expected encore of “Breakin’ My  Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes),” a sprawl of admirers that waited well past midnight  to get a personal helping of Mint.

 

Read more:  Concert Review: Mint Condition at Dallas House of Blues | SoulTracks – Soul Music Biographies, News and Reviews

http://www.soultracks.com/concert-review-mint-condition-4-5-12

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