BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.10.5// X-WR-CALNAME:www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco X-WR-CALDESC:www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco X-WR-TIMEZONE:US/Pacific BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20130518T163255CEST-1317bObIpE@www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco DTSTAMP:20130518T140555Z DESCRIPTION:\n2011 was a banner year for R&\;B&rsquo\;s hottest band\, M int Condition\, who celebrated their 20th anniversary. Their album 7&helli p\; was critically hailed\, featuring a top ten hit (&ldquo\;Not My Daddy& rdquo\; with Kelly Price which earned two Grammy nominations) and two top 20 singles (&ldquo\;Caught My Eye&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Walk On&rdquo\;). Je t Magazine called 7&hellip\; &ldquo\;The kind of CD you can put on and pla y all the way through\, and The Philadelphia Inquirer raved &ldquo\;This i s what honest\, open\, mature soul sounds like. Pay attention!&rdquo\; Min t Condition was also tapped to appear on Prince&rsquo\;s Welcome 2 America tour and they were selected as the house band for TV One&rsquo\;s Way Bla ck When. Mint Condition has released seven studio albums that have been st retched out during their career. Their fans will be elated that their new CD\, MUSIC @ THE SPEED OF LIFE\, will arrive September 25\, 2012\, just a year after 7&hellip\;.The new album&rsquo\;s vibe and feel call to mind Mi nt Condition&rsquo\;s timeless breakthrough hits &ldquo\;Pretty Brown Eyes &rdquo\; and &ldquo\;What Kind Of Man Would I Be\,&rdquo\; while at the sa me time showcases their incomparable chops. Their soulful anthems\, seriou s grooves and sublime songwriting draw upon the great R&\;B band tradit ion ignited by Earth Wind &\; Fire\, The Meters\, Kool &\; the Gang\ , War and others. Mint Condition is truly the only band in R&\;B uphold ing this history and pushing it forward into a new era. They are\, without a doubt\, the greatest self-contained R&\;B band of our time. &ldquo\; This past year has been both amazing and amazingly busy\; just the way we like it\,&rdquo\; confesses Mint Condition. &ldquo\;We definitely think we &rsquo\;re headed in the right direction. It&rsquo\;s kind of strange to s ay that after two decades but we feel it&rsquo\;s our time now\, we&rsquo\ ;ve paid a lot of dues\, been schooled in the business\, honed our craft\, in other words\, we&rsquo\;ve gone to the &ldquo\;puppet show&rdquo\; and seen the strings!&rdquo\;\nMint Condition has garnered a devoted followin g and cultivated a genuine connection with their audience. The band reflec ts\, &ldquo\;We believe by staying true you become vulnerable in many ways and people feel that\, whether it&rsquo\;s joy\, love or pain\, it comes across in the music and people embrace that!&rdquo\; MUSIC @ THE SPEED OF LIFE sounds like nothing else on the scene today\, once again demonstratin g that Mint Condition is one of those rare artists with their own unique s ound. Highlights on the CD include the funky head nodder &ldquo\;Girl of M y Life\,&rdquo\; which describes one of the band members&rsquo\; experienc es as the odd man out in the search for love as he witnessed the rest of t he band settling down. The track features DJ Jazzy Jeff and a riveting dru m solo by Stokley. The unforgettable ballad &ldquo\;Completely&rdquo\; is a ballad about finally finding and accepting your place in life. &ldquo\;I t speaks to how we&rsquo\;ve synched up both in our respective personal li ves and as a working band\,&rdquo\; explains Mint Condition. The inviting and free flowing &ldquo\;649 Changes&rdquo\; is another stand out and feat ures Brother Ali and the M-Factory Horns lead by former Prince and Maceo P arker saxophonist Eric Leeds. \n\nThe members of Mint Condition met as tee nagers growing up in the Twin Cities&mdash\;Minneapolis-St. Paul &mdash\; amidst a thriving music scene energized by Prince\, The Time\, Jam &\; Lewis\, The Replacements\, Soul Asylum and many other artists. Keyboardist s Lawrence El and Keri Lewis\, guitarist O&rsquo\;Dell\, keyboardist/saxop honist Jef\, drummer/vocalist Stokley\, and bass player Ricky came togethe r in the performing arts program at Central High School. Playing together in different combinations led to them forming Mint Condition\; a gig at th e famed First Avenue Club in 1989 caught the attention of super-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis\, formerly of The Time\, and they were signed to Jam &\; Lewis&rsquo\; Perspective Records. MEANT TO BE MINT\, their de but album\, was released in 1991. Their first single\, a New Jack Swing-st yled number\, had only modest success but it was a ballad\, &ldquo\;Breaki n&rsquo\; My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)\,&rdquo\; which has become one of t he classic R&\;B ballads of our time\, that was their breakthrough\, hi tting #3 on the R&\;B charts and #6 on the Pop charts\, with the follow -up &ldquo\;Forever In Your Eyes&rdquo\; hitting #7 on R&\;B charts. Mi nt Condition was established as a gold-selling act. Further hit singles an d albums followed\, with &ldquo\;U Send Me Swingin&rsquo\;\,&rdquo\; &ldqu o\;Someone To Love&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;So Fine&rdquo\; all hitting from th e FROM THE MINT FACTORY album and &ldquo\;What Kind Of Man Would I Be&rdqu o\; (another acknowledged classic) and &ldquo\;You Don&rsquo\;t Have To Hu rt No More&rdquo\; from DEFINITION OF A BAND. After Perspective Records fo lded\, Mint Condition signed with Elektra\, delivering more hits with &ldq uo\;If You Love Me&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Is This Pain Our Pleasure&rdquo\; f rom the LIFE&rsquo\;S AQUARIUM album. In the early 2000s the group took a break from their relentless recording and touring schedule. They resumed a s a quintet with only keyboard player Keri Lewis absent\, releasing a new album\, LIVING THE LUXURY BROWN\, on their own Caged Bird label in 2005\, hitting again with &ldquo\;I&rsquo\;m Ready.&rdquo\; Their high-energy liv e performance was captured with the release of LIVE AT THE 9:30 CLUB and t hen 2008&prime\;s E-LIFE yielded another hit with &ldquo\;Nothing Left To Say.&rdquo\; MUSIC @ THE SPEED OF LIFE follows 2011&rsquo\;s 7.... \; Mint Condition shares about their newest effort\, &ldquo\;Life was our ins piration\; fast-paced\, multifaceted\, adventurous and ever-changing. Our music is drawn from various sources\, and the lyrics speak to the hard kno cks as well as the triumphs of life.&rdquo\;\nMint Condition's website DTSTART:20121026T200000 DTEND:20121027T220000 DURATION:PT3H LOCATION:San Francisco SUMMARY:MINT CONDITION - SOLD OUT! END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR