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:20130523T230411CEST-2684t9vLE3@www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco DTSTAMP:20130523T210511Z 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 M int Condition&rsquo\;s timeless breakthrough hits &ldquo\;Pretty Brown Eye s&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;What Kind Of Man Would I Be\,&rdquo\; while at the s ame time showcases their incomparable chops. Their soulful anthems\, serio us grooves and sublime songwriting draw upon the great R&\;B band tradi tion ignited by Earth Wind &\; Fire\, The Meters\, Kool &\; the Gang \, War and others. Mint Condition is truly the only band in R&\;B uphol ding this history and pushing it forward into a new era. They are\, withou t 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 w e&rsquo\;re headed in the right direction. It&rsquo\;s kind of strange to say 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\; an d seen the strings!&rdquo\;\n\nMint Condition has garnered a devoted follo wing and cultivated a genuine connection with their audience. The band ref lects\, &ldquo\;We believe by staying true you become vulnerable in many w ays and people feel that\, whether it&rsquo\;s joy\, love or pain\, it com es across in the music and people embrace that!&rdquo\; MUSIC @ THE SPEED OF LIFE sounds like nothing else on the scene today\, once again demonstra ting that Mint Condition is one of those rare artists with their own uniqu e sound. Highlights on the CD include the funky head nodder &ldquo\;Girl o f My Life\,&rdquo\; which describes one of the band members&rsquo\; experi ences as the odd man out in the search for love as he witnessed the rest o f the band settling down. The track features DJ Jazzy Jeff and a riveting drum solo by Stokley. The unforgettable ballad &ldquo\;Completely&rdquo\; is a ballad about finally finding and accepting your place in life. &ldquo \;It speaks to how we&rsquo\;ve synched up both in our respective personal lives and as a working band\,&rdquo\; explains Mint Condition. The inviti ng and free flowing &ldquo\;649 Changes&rdquo\; is another stand out and f eatures Brother Ali and the M-Factory Horns lead by former Prince and Mace o Parker saxophonist Eric Leeds. 
\;
\;The members of Mint Condi tion met as teenagers growing up in the Twin Cities&mdash\;Minneapolis-St. Paul &mdash\; amidst a thriving music scene energized by Prince\, The Tim e\, Jam &\; Lewis\, The Replacements\, Soul Asylum and many other artis ts. Keyboardists Lawrence El and Keri Lewis\, guitarist O&rsquo\;Dell\, ke yboardist/saxophonist Jef\, drummer/vocalist Stokley\, and bass player Ric ky came together in the performing arts program at Central High School. Pl aying together in different combinations led to them forming Mint Conditio n\; a gig at the famed First Avenue Club in 1989 caught the attention of s uper-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 debut album\, was released in 1991. Their first single\, a Ne w Jack Swing-styled number\, had only modest success but it was a ballad\, &ldquo\;Breakin&rsquo\; My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)\,&rdquo\; which has become one of the classic R&\;B ballads of our time\, that was their br eakthrough\, hitting #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&am p\;B charts. Mint Condition was established as a gold-selling act. Further hit singles and albums followed\, with &ldquo\;U Send Me Swingin&rsquo\;\ ,&rdquo\; &ldquo\;Someone To Love&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;So Fine&rdquo\; all hitting from the FROM THE MINT FACTORY album and &ldquo\;What Kind Of Man Would I Be&rdquo\; (another acknowledged classic) and &ldquo\;You Don&rsqu o\;t Have To Hurt No More&rdquo\; from DEFINITION OF A BAND. After Perspec tive Records folded\, Mint Condition signed with Elektra\, delivering more hits with &ldquo\;If You Love Me&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Is This Pain Our Ple asure&rdquo\; from the LIFE&rsquo\;S AQUARIUM album. In the early 2000s th e group took a break from their relentless recording and touring schedule. They resumed as a quintet with only keyboard player Keri Lewis absent\, r eleasing a new album\, LIVING THE LUXURY BROWN\, on their own Caged Bird l abel in 2005\, hitting again with &ldquo\;I&rsquo\;m Ready.&rdquo\; Their high-energy live performance was captured with the release of LIVE AT THE 9:30 CLUB and then 2008&prime\;s E-LIFE yielded another hit with &ldquo\;N othing Left To Say.&rdquo\; MUSIC @ THE SPEED OF LIFE follows 2011&rsquo\; s 7.... \; Mint Condition shares about their newest effort\, &ldquo\;L ife was our inspiration\; fast-paced\, multifaceted\, adventurous and ever -changing. Our music is drawn from various sources\, and the lyrics speak to the hard knocks as well as the triumphs of life.&rdquo\;\nMint Conditio n's website DTSTART:20130214T200000 DTEND:20130215T220000 DURATION:PT3H LOCATION:San Francisco SUMMARY:A Special Valentine's Day with MINT CONDITION - SOLD OUT!!! END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR