OAKLAND, CA. FOX THEATER ~ Ledisi was great however the bass and the music blaring over the overhead speakers overshadowed her vocals. The sound from the speakers was ear shattering I would have liked to be able to hear her amazing vocals without the stadium sound. She did sing, "Goin' Thru Changes" a tune from her upcoming album. Her scatting made me think of Ella Fitzgerald, of which her style of singing has been affectionately, compared to Ella in some music circles. She plugged the new release of her upcoming album. The crowd was very enthusiastic about her performance and it was well received. Mint Condition was the next act, they performed all their old hits, same situation regarding the sound, could not really discern whether the lead singer was really singing. They plugged their myspace page etc. Most of the songs performed were from previous albums from years past. Once into their set the lead singer did an abbreviated version of some scatting. The crowd really got into an updated version of "You Really Send Me Swinging," which was everybody's hit back in the day! As with Ledisi, their set would have been much more enjoyable, with less stadium sound and more concentration on the vocals. Overall, Mint Condition gave an average performance. At one point, the tempo was lowered, briefly and the vocals were much better. The audience, really got into one of their mid tempo old school ballads. As they transitioned into their final song for their set, and performed "Breakin' My Heart Pretty Brown Eyes." I could not understand a word the lead vocalist, was saying, due to the extremely loud guitar cords and acoustical effects. At one point I felt like I was at a rock concert watching a rock band, it all seemed a little out of sorts. We were sitting in the orchestra row,[row Q, seat 18, 19] with a great vantage point of the stage, however it seemed our and other seats were placed in the aisle at the last minute,to maximize the number of seats sold, based upon the cost of the tickets, we were really excited about our seats, however we were definitely disappointed to find out we were going to be sitting in High-Back bar chairs, the whole evening.[definitely didn't do my back any good].
During, the intermission we decided to take a tour of the renovated Fox-theater, there were service bars everywhere, and the alcohol was flowing. In the Den-at-the-fox you could purchase hot-dogs, and all sorts of finger foods. We decided to purchase drinks, and were not sure If would could use plastic, as we maneuvered our way through the crowd, we caught a glimpse of the visa logo strategically placed on each bar corner, indicating they were sponsors, so we decided to utilize our visa card for our purchase, and to our dismay there was a $20.00 minimum if you wanted to purchase drinks with your credit card or debit card. So we proceeded to the ATM, located in the lobby, and was further shocked to find out there was a $4.00 ATM fee assessed to your withdrawal, so we passed on that!
The set for Eric Benet was flawless and as always he was in good form, voice was crisp. At first I wasn't too sure, when he came out with a blazer, white pants and tie, he did not have any background singers, just a guitarist, drummer, and electric piano player. As always the women were very much engaged with his set as he sang his songs and worked the audience. He sang a medley of songs from his 4th studio album, entitled "Love and Life." and the ladies went wild when he sang "Chocolate Legs", as he engaged the audience very effectively even more so with his rhythmic body moves while performing "Spanish Fly."
After asking the audience who in the audience were true Eric Benet fans? Mr. Benet did what he does best, he performed. Songs from "True to Myself" really got the crowd engaged in a sing along. Mr. Benet ended his set with a extended version of Georgie Porgie, and the audience went wild, and started dancing in the aisles. - RF
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