Review: Mint ConditionThe last weekend of February 2013 was an absolutely delightful experience for about 1500 of Bermuda’s music lovers.The Poinsettia Ballroom at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton played host to a very special concert on Saturday, leaving a room full of patrons swooning into the night.The headlining act of the concert was the Minnesota-based soul band Mint Condition; their superb performance was just icing on the cake of a night full of stellar performances in the grand old ballroom.The concert started right on time (9pm), at which point the ample ballroom was almost completely filled. The set was impressive, with elaborate lighting rigs, big screens on either side of the main stage, and a formidable speaker arrangement. Indeed the sound, lighting, and general technical air was on point for the balance of the evening; a job very well done.Craig Tyrell was the evening’s master of ceremonies, representing the Bermuda Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. He was witty, charming, and steadily entertaining in his role as host.The show started with young songstress Delijah Symonds. Simply put, Delijah was awesome! She delivered a brisk 15-minute set that included covers of such timeless classics as Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Rock With You’ and Adele’s masterful ‘Rolling in the Deep’.Delijah flexed her powerful voice all over the stage on Saturday night, giving the always excellent Wall Street Band a serious run for its money. The band kept up with her, of course, and the effect was mesmerising; an outstanding opening act for what quickly became an outstanding night out.Next to the stage was another young songstress, Kaelyn Kastle. Miss Kastle was a bundle of energy and attitude from start to finish. Her set was surprisingly polished, and she exhibited the refined stage presence of a seasoned performer throughout. Confident, bubbly, and downright adorable, Miss Kastle was an instant hit with the capacity crowd, who rewarded her with a partial standing ovation after her exhilarating rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’.The fabulous Sia Spence rounded out the evening’s complement of female vocalists. The always stunning Miss Spence delivered a typically brilliant set, shining on spectacular renditions of Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl on Fire’, Minnie Ripperton’s ‘Loving You’ and the Alicia Keys and Usher duet ‘My Boo’, for which Lloyd Holder joined Miss Spence to complete the duet.Miss Spence has been a local favourite for years now, so the adoration heaped on her by the crowd was no surprise. She received a couple partial standing ovations as well, which, to be honest, is par for the course for the inimitable Miss Spence at this point.Mr Holder closed the local portion of the show. His rich tenor was on full display on this wonderful night, making the ladies feel faint and the fellahs smile in appreciation. Splendid versions of Maxwell’s ‘Ascension’, Joe’s ‘All the Things (Your Man Won’t Do)’ and Luther Vandross’ ‘A House is Not A Home / Still in Love’, made his set remarkably memorable. The last piece was by request, and Mr Holder totally killed it! Several audience members stood once again to honour him.By now, the pacing of the show was becoming noticeably smooth. The local portion was nothing short of outstanding, and the crowd was thoroughly ready for the headliners to do their thing. Which, after a nicely balanced 25-minute intermission, they very much did!Mint Condition has always been something different on the contemporary R&B scene; they are a full band in the tradition of Earth, Wind & Fire. This is reflected in their live performances. Lead singer / percussionist Stokely Williams is the driving force behind the band, and seems to have buckets of energy. Their musicality is immediately impressive, and the range of their styles is pretty extraordinary.The band delivered soul, R&B, funk, reggae, rock and several periods of complete instrumental bliss throughout their ample 90-minute set. Mr Williams was imperious throughout, jumping, drumming, gyrating, scatting, skipping, and wooing the crowd at will. It was really quite a performance to behold!They covered a good portion of their catalogue as well, with super hits like ‘You Don’t Have to Hurt No More’, ‘You Send Me Swinging’ and the magnificent ‘What Kind of Man Would I Be?’ pouring sweet soul salvation all over the congregation. The encore was the bittersweet ‘Breaking My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)’, and it was amazing.The night was, in fact, pretty amazing from start to finish. The setting, atmosphere and ambience were all fantastic, the acts were each dazzling in their own right, and the pacing was pitch-perfect. A big ‘Bravo!’ to the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc and Bermudanightout.com for producing a wonderfully classy, polished, and elegant show. Very nice work indeed!