Concert Review: Mint Condition

The question of the evening on Friday, May 27th was, “Is it going to rain?” Whether we knew the answer to that question or not, it wasn’t going to stop fans of Mint Condition from coming out to support and have a good time.

Old School 95.5 presented the District Rhythms Series with Mint Condition. This event was located outside at the Ballpark Village. There were hundreds of people in attendance, majority with umbrellas in their hand, anticipating rain that may or may not come. Before the main act hit the stage, there was an opening act to warm up the crowd. St. Louis native Aunyae Heart took the stage and performed for about 45 minutes. She started off her amazing set with a cover of Rihanna’s song “Cheers (Drink to That)” and seamlessly tied it together with the theme song of the popular TV show Cheers. For her entire set, she performed strictly covers, especially from the 90s era from artists such as SWV, Mary J. Blige, Xscape and Faith Evans. She then ended with the song “Party” by Beyonce.

There was a 20-minute wait until Mint Condition finally hit the stage. They came out with the song, “If the Feeling is Right” from their first album From the Mint Factory. This is the second time I’ve seen them perform and the second time was even better. They were energetic throughout the whole show. They performed their classic hits such as “U Send Me Swingin’,” “If You Love Me” and “You Don’t Have to Hurt No More.” Front man Stockley Williams put on quite a show as he always does. His distinct voice sent chills down my spine. Plenty of women that were in attendance can surely attest to that. And if you didn’t know that Stokley had some moves, you were in for a surprise. With Mint Condition being from Minnesota, they couldn’t leave without performing some of Prince’s classic hits like “Dance Music Sex Romance,” “Doves Cry” and “Get It Up.” They have truly done Prince justice with this tribute. The rain finally decided to make an appearance during their performance of “What Kind of Man Would I Be.” Mint Condition announced at the beginning of the show that if it did rain, it was not going to stop them. And that it didn’t. Like true professionals and musicians they were, they performed like it never rained. It definitely didn’t stop the dedicated fans from singing right along with them. They ended their 1 hour and 15-minute set with the classic of all classic hits, “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes).” The crowd of course went crazy. It’s safe to say that pretty much everyone who is a fan of Mint Condition thoroughly enjoyed themselves, rain and all.