Power 95 Summer Jam at Clearwater Beach Saturday, May 28 *** WRECKING your mother's car is not to be recommended before attending a concert.

Yet that is what I did. Mind you, I blame the rain.

The facts are these: I lost control of the vehicle on Harrington Sound Road, spinning around and striking a wall. Miraculously, I managed to keep both myself and my girlfriend alive.

I only made it to Clearwater Beach after the car was towed.

Like I said, not the best start to an evening. Something pretty special was required to draw me from my ugly mood -- and something pretty special is what Power 95 Summer Jam served up on Saturday night.

How much better, though, it would have been had we watched the show indoors.

Wake up Bermuda -- in our sub-tropical climate, surely an indoor venue is not too much to ask for.

While heavy rain had little impact during the acts, spectators already wet, complained at even a drizzle during the long and frequent intermissions.

The visiting recording artists, Mint Condition, Ashford & Simpson and Montell Jordan seemed themselves undeterred by the weather and really had the audience singing and swaying each time they took to the stage.

The spectators -- who reportedly included Premier Jennifer Smith -- expected the big acts to begin performing at 8 p.m., after DJ Malcolm "Lethal Weapon'' Smith warmed up the crowd, and local act Tempo performed.

But the first performance by a foreign act actually got underway at about 8.30 p.m.

Covering his long hair with a hat, the lead singer of Mint Condition disappointed the audience members who prefer him to perform with his hair out.

But anyone who was unfamiliar with the physical characteristics of the band members would have thought the group phenomenal at Saturday's concert because of the other attributes of the group members who entertained the crowd both with their music and stage presence.

Couples danced with one another as the group sang love songs "You send me swingin''', "If you love me'' and "Pretty Brown Eyes''.

The group specially acknowledged murdered Bermudian, Jermaine `Red' Pitcher before the guitarist spun around psyching out the crowd and exiting the stage with the rest of the band members.

While the rain did not disturb anyone in the crowd during Ashford & Simpson's actual performance, the drizzle of the intermission did.

The only break in this interval occurred when the Captain and Sherry J.

appeared to comment on how "wicked'' the expensive stage was.

And it was an impressive stage. My friend Phelecia Barnett said the stage was "amazing''.

"I've never seen anything like that in Bermuda'' she added.

Yet, half an hour elapsed before the next act was brought on.

While younger spectators may have been unfamiliar with what songs Ashford and Simpson are famous for, it is doubtful that they did not enjoy the dazzling performance put on by the duo.

Old School DJ Kevin Thomas was ecstatic as the group performed and said: "This is what songs used to be about. Pay attention to how they talk to each other in the songs. Communication!'' Indeed the two did communicate with one another as well as with the audience.

Younger members of the crowd did sing along to the songs they were familiar with: "I'm every woman'', which has been remade by both Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston, as well as "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby''.

And during the finale, umbrellas bounced up and down as everyone, young and old, sang the words to "Solid As A Rock''.

The music sounded great when the duo performed this song.

Yet, the excitement of the moment came to a halt when Summer Jam returned to its hum drum state as music was played during a 90-minute interval.

Meanwhile, the Captain and Sherry J. did come on stage twice to ask the crowd who yelled and booed them to "Hang in there'', as he said neither he nor Sherry J wanted the rain either.

They also expressed that there were some technical difficulties due to the rain.

The Grammy Award winning highlight of the show Montell Jordan stepped on stage apologising to his Bermudian fans after the long lapse in time.

"Thank you for waiting, isn't it humid?'' he added.

The giant of a man graced the stage donning a white T-shirt set off by a cream suit and a pair of black shades.

He sang "Let's Ride'' which is actually a duet sung with rapper Master P.

While Mr. Jordan performed the song brilliantly, the absence of Master P. was missed.

While he sang well and engaged what he called a "young and seasoned'' crowd as much as he could, Mr. Jordan said the absence of back-up would just make "brotherman more tired'', though he said he did not mind.

However, Mr. Jordan seemed anything but tired as he surprised the crowd with a saxophone and vocal rendition of "I'm never gonna dance again''.

"You all probably don't know that I play this instrument. I've probably only done this once or twice,'' he said.

But he blew on that saxophone and then sang the vocal parts without gasping once! He also showed his fans that he had another unknown talent and gave short imitations of artists Busta Rhymes, Junior Mafia, Michael Jackson and others.

While singing a Michael Jackson hit Mr. Jordan commented that he was "Takin' it back to when Mike was Black'', and pointed to his face! Mr. Jordan also sang hit song "I can do that'' among a huge repertoire including a song off his new album "Once Upon a Time''.

Most impressive about Mr. Jordan's performance was the way he changed the lyrics of 1995 hit song "This is how we do it''.

Lyrics "South Central does it like nobody does'', and "It feels so good in my hood'', were appropriately changed to "Bermuda does it like nobody does'', and "it feels so good in your hood'' creating an exciting ambiance in which to end the show.

After performing for nearly an hour Mr. Jordan promised to return to the Island and to bring his crew of dancers and back-up singers.

One unknown male spectator was pleased with this news and said: "Yah, bring somebody.'' The huge stage was a little plain without the background activities for which concerts of that magnitude are known.

Ultimately it would be wonderful if artists like Mr. Jordan could make it to the Island more often. Surely Bermuda needs an indoor venue of some sort to house such events, however.

Perhaps then better planning and equipment can prevent lengthy delays in between otherwise faultless performances.

Nevertheless, for the spatially challenged entertainment arena of tiny Bermuda, Power 95 is surely to be applauded for its efforts.