CONCERT REVIEW: Groovin’ In The Park Was A Show Stopper

Reggae Royalty Queen Ifrica at Groovin’ In The Park

Written by: Sandie Edwards
Groovin in the Park 2013 was held at the Roy Wilkins park in St Albans, Queens New York. Those who braved the rain, were in for a treat. The concert had some of the best in Reggae and R&B, with International Reggae Performers such as Half Pint, Barrington Levy, Queen Ifrica, Sanchez and Steel Pulse standing in for Toots Hibbert who was injured last month by a flying bottle in Virginia. One of my favorite performers did not appear, but I believe Half pint, appeared instead and he always delivers especially with this anthem “Greetings, I Bring From Jah”.

Queen Ifrica is truly a queen and the crowd loved her delivery of ‘Lets Act Silly’ and ‘Lioness Is On The Rise’ just to name a few.

I grew up listening to Steel Pulse, a band from Birmingham, UK for many years. We have aged together. You know I always have to inject a personal anecdote in my reviews. I recall Steel Pulse appearing at a club in the eighties, in New York City, I believe it was called Harambee and David Hinds the lead singer of Steel Pulse and been jumping up and down on stage. I, of course was right at the front of the stage and his credit card fell out of his pocket, so I reached out and picked it up and held it up to him asking if I could go shopping. He was happy to get his card back !

I love Steel Pulse and when I hear certain songs it reminds me of certain times and certain people, for example, ‘Chant A Psalm A Day’ always reminds me of my brother Brian, who loves that song. When that song came on I was screaming the words, but the crowd was not really familiar with some of the songs.

The R&B set started with Patti LaBelle whose voice as always was crystal clear and gave you goose bumps. Miss Patti said she was “celebrating 50 years in this business called show” and that she was 69 years young.

I recall taking my mum to see Patti LaBelle at the Beacon Theatre about 25 years ago and she sounded just as good as she did then, she may not run across the stage and roll around on the stage as she used to but she still had that classy stage presence. I saw Patti at the Miami Jazz in the gardens in March this year, and she did not look well. Four months later she was looking great. ( This audience that loved reggae as well as rhythm and Blues received her very well.

TGT, Tank Ginuwine and Tyrese. These young men can sing, I know that’s an understatement, but they are stars in their own right and are now on tour as TGT. All I can say is that the ladies screamed. There was a mini riot when Ginuwine wiped his face and threw the towel into the audience. I had to laugh . Thank God the rains held off. A great production indeed!

Kudos to Chris Roberts, CEO of Groovin in the park and to Andrea Bullens and her team and all the sponsors. Special thanks to our friend Anthony Turner who is one of the organizers and does so much behind the scenes…Big up!!