With Raggamuffin off the local events calendar this summer this really was a must-see gig for local music fans.
You didn't have to be a huge reggae fan to enjoy Friday's show - six acts headlined by Wellington's Fat Freddy's Drop.
The main performers had a tough act to follow after Meta & The Cornerstones pumped up the mid-evening crowd with an energetic performance.
Gallery: Fat Freddys Drop concert at Village Green
But they came on stage strongly, kicking off with relatively recent favourite Blackbird, the title track from their 2013 album, and continuing with a mesmerising two-hour set.
The band's roots as a jam band were evident - and as the summer evening rolled on so was the musicianship, as the sweet sounds - that deep bass, warm brass, smooth vocals and more - throbbed their way into the heads, hearts and feet of the thousands-strong crowd.
Those fans waiting for Fat Freddy's Drop's biggest hit Wandering Eye may have wondered what happened. Different band members earlier gave conflicting advice on whether the song would be played. In the end it was, sort of, in a highly-stylised way, seamlessly flowing off the back of the previous track, its recognisable lyrics coming in over the continuing rolling bassline of the earlier song.
But other favourites didn't disappoint. Encore Midnight Marauders proved a powerful and fitting end to the night while earlier Roady got the crowd going with its lyrics "Yes it feels so good, when I know you're rockin' with me" and its refrain "We do it for the love of music".
And you could tell they really do, do it for the love of music.