Groovin’ in The Park Strikes Back after being Struck by COVID-19

Groovin’ in The Park resumed with a striking spectacle of performances last Sunday, June 25, at the Roy Wilkins Park, in Queens, New York, following a 3-year hiatus from the ravishing impact of the deadly pandemic, COVID-19. The staging came on the heels of celebrating the event’s 10 th anniversary.

The event which featured scores of stars, saw patrons locally and internationally swarming the venue for what was promise by the event’s promoter as a “once in a lifetime event not to miss!” Despite the number of attendees,

Founder of the event, Christopher Roberts, said the crowd was not as large as
expected but satisfying those who attended was his main aim. “We were a little rusty coming back after three years but it’s natural for us to be like that. The crowd wasn’t the biggest thing for me, it was seeing the fans enjoy themselves,” said Roberts.

Among the star entertainers, booked to wet the fans’ appetites, with what they have been yearning for over 3-years, were Minister Marion Hall, Cham, Taurus Riley, Wayne Wonder and R&B superstar Charlie Wilson.

Minister Hall, in all her glory after being reborn in Christ 8-years ago, gave a thrilling testimony through her 50-mins long set, as she performed a catalogue of songs from her recent Gospel hits such as Warrior, I’m Doing Better and Sorry to Hurt Your Feelings. Three of her renditions of what her personal journey as a Christian has been like and the experiences, she said made her into a stronger person in Christ.

However, during Hall’s performance, she seemingly sent as a subliminal message to the self-proclaimed queen of dancehall, Spice, who withdrew her invitation to perform at the show after allegedly knowing that Minister Hall will also be performing at the event.

“Mi nuh come ya suh fi idle, mi nuh come yah suh fi dancehall title, mi come yah
suh fi preach di gospel. Suh tell a bleach out duppy mi nuh frighten,” uttered
Minister Hall.

In a contrasting blend of music, the ‘singy-singy’ artiste and reggae enthusiast Taurus Riley, also lightens the atmosphere with a medley of some of his popular hits, in which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed as they grooved to the reggae beats. The night ignited with his fiery popular single Lighter, which features ‘dancehall princess,’ Shenseea; other hits included Never leave I and Simple Blessings featuring recording artiste, Konshens, reminding audience to always give thanks.

The established She’s Royal singer also took a break from his performance to show respect to his colleagues, Minister Marion Hall, Cham and Wayne Wonder. However, Taurus’ performance turned up a notch with an extraordinary competitive play-off between himself and his musical director, renowned saxophonist, Dean Fraser. This spectacle will be on the lips of the patrons who enjoyed that brief moment, for weeks to come.

Groovin in The Park kept its patrons grooving with the combined medley of some of Jamaica’s best of the 90’s songs from Cham, Frisco Kid and Wayne Wonder. Frisco Kid kicks off the medley with songs such as Big Speech, Little and Cute and Gal Pon De Side, after which Wayne Wonder and Cham who joined in smoothly, singing to one of Cham’s singles, From you Born, along with a few other selections. Shortly after, Wayne was left to dominate the stage with his solo performance in which he mesmerized the crowd with some of his fans’ favourite hits such as, Saddest Day of My Life, Anything For You and Searching.

The energetic Cham then later ran out on stage to close the segment dubbed ‘Timeless Nineties,’ with some of his hits that were obviously still fresh in the minds of his fans such as Babylon Boy, Vitamin S and Ghetto Story. The beautiful vocals of Cham and Wayne Wonder echoed across the venue as they ended the segment with their 1997 single, Joyride, to which the crowd sang and rocked along.

As patrons patiently waited for the smooth, sensational sound of R&B legend, Charlie Wilson, he did deliver and added a graceful blend to the previous performances of the ‘nineties’ dancehall giants. While shimmering in a glittery Jacket, the smooth songbird soothes the crowd with some of his solo hits such as There Goes My Baby, Charlie, Last Name, Wilson and My Favourite Part of You.

Charlie continued to serenade the ladies with his version of one of Roger Troutman’s original, I Wanna Be Your Man, then later gave a lifetime performance with a compilation of songs which were originally done with his brothers from the Gap Band. Some of these included, Yearning For Your Love, Early in the Morning and Burn Rubber.

The ever energetic and highly anticipated four continents, four sounds clash, saw the Dynamq sound out of Africa as the victors among its other competitors. The other sounds included Bass Odyssey from Jamaica, representing the Americas, David Rodigan straight out of the United Kingdom, representing Europe and the Yard Beat sound from Asia.

According to the Founder of the event, Christopher Roberts, Groovin’ in The Park saw its ‘largest audience’ of over 25,000 patrons in 2019; which set the expected standards for all other music festivals internationally and in the Caribbean.

Mckoy’s News Staff Writer | Natasha Williams