We Love NYC concert was great before Central Park washed out

Just when you assumed we ended up all set to fall back again in adore with huge are living live shows yet again — Hurricane Henri experienced other ideas for New York Town.

The ominous HH washed out what was intended to be a triumphant night time for NYC — far more than a 12 months soon after the COVID-19 pandemic shook the Significant Apple — at the We Like NYC: The Homecoming Concert on the Excellent Lawn of Central Park on Saturday night time.

Halfway into the concert — as Barry Manilow belted out “I Can not Smile Devoid of You” — the heavens opened up and pre-Henri arrived a number of hours before than envisioned, with the rain and lightning menace placing an conclude to what was turning into an epic celebration.

It was as if Mom Mother nature was declaring it was “too soon” to be celebrating beating COVID with circumstances growing due to the Delta variant. Mom was pretty a lot telling us, “We’re not home nevertheless.”

In fairness, when the star-studded concert — made by new music market legend Clive Davis and concert-biz behemoth Reside Country — was announced previous thirty day period by Mayor Monthly bill de Blasio, issues seemed to be trending in a a lot far more good route for New York, but with COVID circumstances growing — even with some breakthrough good tests between the vaccinated — there was some problem that we ended up not all set to be partying in the park like that fairly nevertheless, even if evidence of vaccination was expected for entry.

But when the sunlight came out just in advance of the concert commenced at 5 p.m. — with a yellow-dressed Gayle King very a lot symbolizing it — it truly seemed as if brighter days ended up ahead. The “CBS This Morning” host introduced the New York Philharmonic, who additional a amount of gravitas and grandeur to the proceedings: We ended up coming collectively to have a major moment of recognition of all that we experienced survived in advance of all of the pleasurable began.

Then when Andrea Bocelli — the Italian tenor who himself battled COVID early previous 12 months — sang “You’ll Hardly ever Wander Alone” backed by the Philharmonic, it rang a resounding observe all through Central Park. It was as if he didn’t even need to have a mic as he implored us to “Walk on, stroll on with hope in your heart.”

And as if to clearly show us all the difficulties that we have conquer, the blind singer even performed the flute in advance of telling us, “After a storm will come usually the sunlight.”

Immediately after that emotional moment came Jennifer Hudson, who, fresh off of her Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” opening previous 7 days, confirmed that she was not to be outdone by Bocelli. Paying tribute to the Queen of Soul, she performed “Nessun Dorma,” the aria that Franklin famously sang at the Grammys in 1998 as a previous-minute alternative for Luciano Pavarotti.

It was a regal overall performance for the ages — with a final high observe would absolutely make it  hard to top.

Nonetheless, the concert was just finding commenced. And there ended up a good deal of other early highlights, from an ageless Carlos Santana “Smooth”-ing it out with Rob Thomas — and a Excellent Lawn entire of concertgoers grooving in the grass — to Journey reminding us, even in the face of a world wide pandemic, to “Don’t Halt Believin’.”

And then came what, in any ol’ regular Central Park concert, could possibly have been the finale: LL Interesting J and a host of other New York hip-hop legends — like Busta Rhymes, Unwanted fat Joe and Rev. Operate of Operate-DMC — rocked the stage in a overall performance that ran from Busta’s “Put Your Fingers Where My Eyes Could See” and Unwanted fat Joe’s “Lean Back” to LL’s individual classic “Mama Claimed Knock You Out.”

In an aqua velour sweatsuit, LL, at 53, was continue to the epitome of amazing in the late-August humidity.

Then de Blasio came out to a chorus of boos in advance of introducing the famous R&B band Earth, Wind & Fireplace. And the aspects truly took over soon after their overall performance, with Hurricane Henri stopping the night time in advance of the Killers, Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon could even consider the stage.

Though CNN teased that the concert could possibly commence yet again — probably with no audience and some holdouts who refused to go away — at some point Anderson Cooper named it a wrap: The Homecoming was officially long gone. And in what is possibly the worst-circumstance circumstance, the drenched — and drunk — concertgoers flooded the subway, many with out masks, pondering when they could sense home yet again.