Queens, NY: New York: Not even the treat of torrential rainfall could put a damper on the thousand of music lovers who braved the rains and poured into a jam-packed Roy Wilkins Park in Queens to savor a magical concoction of reggae and rhythm and blues at this year's third intallment of Groovin In The Park.
The concept in New York of marrying two very different genres of music at this year’s staging of Groovin In The Park 2013 proved that music can indeed be a powerful and uniting force across cultural borders. This year's concert featured international chart toppers Half Pint, Barrington Levy, Queen Ifrica, Sanchez and Steel Pulse on the reggae side.
They were joined by Grammy winner and vocal wonder Patti LaBelle alongside Nubian nerve pluckers TGT (Tyrese, Genuine and Tank). This diverse assortment of talent turned out to be exactly what music lovers wanted, and all the acts billed brought their A game to the Queens venue.
“Greetings I bring to all raggamufins”, chanted Half Pint as he flashed his chunks of locks and declared the show officially open shortly after 2:00PM. His opening anthem brought back waves of memories for the mostly mature attendees, and he followed this up with a barrage of popular hits that riveted the audience.
“Seeing Half Pint here feels like Reggae Sunsplash in Montego Bay, except that at midday we would be going back home, not arriving”, music lover Beverly Ruddock told her longtime friend Winston ‘Niney’ Holness, a former manager producer for reggae legend Dennis Brown.
The unleashing of outstanding performances continued with Barrington Levy who captivated fans with "Under Mi Sensi," "Black Roses," "My Woman" and the Bob Andy penned "Too Experienced." Levy was followed by the much anticipated "Fyah Mumma" Queen Ifrica who delivered her very first full length performance at an outdoor festival in New York.
She had wowed the local media at a press breakfast at the Door Restaurant in Queens the previous day with reports of her invitation to Jamaican parliament by national security minister Peter Bunting following on the recent release of her song “Don’t Cry Mr Bunting”. With all her sweet talk on radio and advice to the Jamaican security minister, people were curious to see what Queen Ifica could actually do on stage.
As soon as she took the microphone, the skies opened up and suddenly it was raining on her parade. But in true regal style the queen bravely fought back. As she stridently delivered an impressive catalogue of hits interspersed with social commentary, she instantly turned a potential disaster into thunderous applause by inviting a sea of obedient fans to do dances with their thousands of colourful umbrellas in the rain. It worked. It was rhapsody in the raindrops. New Yorkers ate every lyric from Queen Ifrica’s lips and she walked away with their seal of approval.
Sanchez and Steel Pulse delivered magnificent sets, working the crowd, harvesting old memories and creating new ones. But one knew an extraordinary moment was about to unfold when the backstage area had to be cleared for the arrival of diva goddess Patti LaBelle.
“I am sixty nine years young”, she declared in her opening number, glancing in her onstage portable mirror and basking momentarily in her own flawlessness. She unhurriedly and lovingly seduced the captive audience with her smash monsters, showing off her rare vocal range. She whipped the crowd into an explosive frenzy and halfway through her mid-seventies anthem "Lady Marmalade," she invited audience participation.
“I want three men who can sing and dance on stage with me and I don’t care if you are black or white, straight or gay”, she implored. The response was immediate and her devastatingly comic interaction with all three Jamaican guys brought the house down and put Labelle in total control of Groovin In The Park.
Tyrese, Genuine and Tank (TGT) closed the show after dark with a smooth, sensuous and silky litany of love songs that drove the young ladies wild. Hundreds of ladies appeared lost, dazed, mesmerized and weak by this provocative performance of ‘come hither’ songs like "Pony," "Differences," "In Those Jeans," "Sweet Lady," Please Don't Go" and "Sex Never Felt Better."
At 10 PM the music faded and the show ended. Well, almost, until a group of over-zealous female fans chased Tyrese fifteen minutes later along the perimeter of the fencing in the park, demanding his body. Luckily for him, he was rescued by the alert security team who ushered him into a nearby VIP tent for safekeeping, but only after agreeing to take shirtless photos with a few lucky fans.
Sponsors for Groovin In The Park include TD BANK, LIME, GRACE FOODS, MONEYGRAM, WESTERN UNION, AFFINITY HEALTH, THE DOOR RESTAURANT and BULLZII.
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