Groovin’ In The Park celebrated its 10th anniversary with a resounding bang on June 25 at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York, after a three-year break due to the deadly pandemic.

Minister Marion Hall, Wayne Wonder, Cham, Tarrus Riley, and R&B singer Charlie Wilson gave outstanding performances that went over well with fans in the packed venue.

“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 Christopher Roberts, founder and principal of the event.

Hall, who took the stage after Canadian singer Steel and the all-female band International Women in Reggae, delivered a performance of Pentecostal proportions.

In a seemingly jab at Spice, who withdrew from the line-up in the run-up to the date, she declared: “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.”

Her 50-minute set was largely a personal testimony with songs such as Warrior and I’m Doing Better, which the audience thoroughly enjoyed. Hall spoke about the challenges she has faced since giving her life to Christ eight years ago, including going broke and near destitute.

Sporting thigh-length braids and loose-fitting slacks, she retained the feistiness of her alter ego Lady Saw.

Frisco Kid, Wayne Wonder and Cham comprised a lively ‘Timeless 90s’ segment, a tribute to dancehall music’s most commercially-successful decade. Most of the songs they performed were from the camps of Donovan Germain and Dave Kelly, dominant producers of the era.

Frisco Kid led with songs like Little And Cute and Rubbers, followed by Wayne Wonder who did jams like Searching, Saddest Day of My Life and Keep Them Coming.

Cham was in prime form. Babylon Boy, Vitamin S, Ghetto Story, and Originality was the perfect segue for Joyride, his 1997 anthem with Wayne Wonder.

That nostalgic ride set the pace for Tarrus Riley, who was a hit with the crowd. A high point of his set was a friendly clash between him and saxophonist Dean Fraser, his musical director.

They did songs from the 1990s, including Garnet Silk’s Hello Mama Africa and I Love You Too Much by Wayne Wade.

Charlie Wilson did not disappoint the fans, who waited patiently in chilly temps. He took the stage minutes to 10:00 pm in a glittering jacket, accompanied by a cast of backup singers and dancers and a tight band that delivered the goods on his solo hits which included My Favourite Girl, There Goes my Baby, and My Name is Charlie.

He also did a version of I Want to be Your Man, originally done by Roger Troutman, as well as Early in The Morning, Burn Rubber, and Yearning For Your Love, which were done with his brothers in the Gap Band.

In the four-sound clash, Dynamq of South Sudan was a popular winner. The self-proclaimed River Nile Crocodile topped Yardbeat from Japan, David Rodigan out of the United Kingdom, and Jamaica’s Bass Odyssey.