In FDR Park, a delayed start, a Lucy Dacus-officiated group wedding, and a winning beginning to MTWB concert weekend

It turned out to be a lovely evening for not only a concert, but also a joyous onstage group wedding.

But before that, it had seemed the live music gods might have put a hex on the Lucy Dacus summertime concert experience in Philadelphia.

Back in 2022, a wicked thunderstorm forced Dacus and Courtney Barnett to cancel a scheduled Skyline Stage at the Mann show.

Then severe weather threatened Friday’s Dacus-headlined opening night of Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better Concert Weekend, which marks the return of live music to FDR Park.

Was the weather also going to spoil this auspicious occasion? It was not only the first major concert in the South Philly park since Lollapalooza 1994, but also a fundraiser for former Eagle Barwin’s foundation, which rebuilds parks and playgrounds throughout the city.

Thankfully it did not, but that threatened to be the case just after 5 p.m. during the opening set by Jay Som — the stage name of Los Angeles songwriter Melina Duterte — when the site was evacuated as a storm approached.

The windy and wet delay lasted two hours, with the 3,000-plus fans of former Philadelphian songwriter and boygenius member Dacus waiting patiently in orderly fashion outside the fencing, which in some places had been blown down and needed to be reassembled.

When everybody got back in, Jay Som was back on stage pretty much immediately, leading a four-piece band and setting the musical tone for the evening to come, with a warm, engaging set of well-crafted indie pop, including an enticing sneak preview of her forthcoming fourth album, Belong.

From there, the show moved on with impressive efficiency, with the band’s sets on a stage nestled among trees in a green field in the northeast corner of the park shortened only slightly. The music wrapped up in time for a curfew that had to be extended only a half hour, to 10:30 p.m.

But enough about the logistics. Let’s get to the wedding.

Earlier in the week, Dacus announced plans to marry people onstage at her shows this summer, on the second leg of the tour for her album Forever Is a Feeling, which played a date in Philly in April at the Met.

“I can think of all sorts of reasons people may be interested in securing the rights granted through marriage,” she wrote on Instagram, extending an invitation to her queer fan base and anyone else who might be interested in obtaining a marriage license and tying the knot in a ceremony officiated by their favorite singer.

The MTWB show in Philadelphia — where the Richmond, Va.-raised Dacus lived from 1998 to 2023, and which she declared onstage to be “one of the greatest cities in the world” — was the first opportunity to put that plan into action.

And so it came to pass that midway through her 70-minute set, Dacus invited six couples on stage at the start of Forever’s tender “Best Guess,” serenading them as they slow-danced. “You may not be an angel, but you are my girl,” she sang. “You are my best guess at the future.”

As the song wound down, Dacus asked the couples if they freely promised “to care for each other, for richer, for poorer, for better or worse,” and they all said “I do.” And then she said, “In front of all these friends and strangers” — that line got a big round of applause — “I now pronounce you married!”

Much smooching ensued among the six who were now betrothed. They included Philadelphians Madeline Nagle and Alexander Nelms, Sarah Skorpinski and Beth Pearson (who got engaged at Dacus’ Philly show in the spring), as well as Kaelyn Polick-Kirkpatrick and Gracia Dobbs of Ann Arbor, Mich.

When the song was over, the couples joined together in a procession through the crowd, greeted by cheers and tears. Dacus joked that she had to change the set list, because she usually follows “Best Guess” with “For Keeps,” a song about how most promises of forever don’t work out that way.

That song was deleted, and Dacus instead sat down on a plush couch surrounded by her bandmates — including Philly bass player Dominic Angelella — and sang “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” the lead track from her 2016 debut No Burden, which was the first display of the songwriting talent that has earned her an adoring audience in the years since.

That was followed two songs later with “Bullseye,” which is sung with Irish rock star Hozier on Forever but on Friday was done accompanied by the signature rasp of Frances Quinlan, lead singer and songwriter of Hop Along, the Philly band whose scorching set preceded Dacus’ quieter presentation.

Dacus also shouted out the event and the bucolic urban setting with a view of the Center City skyline off in the distance: “How about a round of applause for the venue and a show that looked like it wasn’t going to happen and turned out amazing?”

Hop Along, who headlined at a MTWB benefit at Union Transfer in 2016, was introduced by Barwin, while holding his 4-year-old daughter, Vera, as “one of my favorite bands in the world.”

Dacus also lavished praise on Hop Along, whose appearances on stage have been scarce in recent years. Here’s hoping for more soon from the band that hasn’t released an album since Bark Your Head Off, Dog in 2018.

The rain never returned, and thus the few members of the crowd old enough to remember the mud bowl of 1994 did not have their PTSD triggered. The wait for the city to give the all clear for fans to reenter was handled with remarkable calm.

Communication was clear from the event staff, but MTWB could have done better by having a social media presence updating ticket holders about what was going on, letting approaching fans know that the site had been evacuated and when it might reopen.

The lesson of this year’s Roots Picnic — where a much larger crowd got understandably upset when left to wait in long lines due to heavy rains causing damage to the Mann Center grounds — is that communication is key and people need to be kept up to speed and alerted to when they might need to run for cover.

And a word about food and beverage. The locally focused dining options at MTWB looked delicious. Mouthwatering, even. I say looked because the lines for stalls for buzzy restaurants Cantina la Martina and Tabachoy and Southeast Asian Market vendors Bee’z Kitchen and Sahbyy Food were extremely long.

Those with the patience of Job were willing to wait in them. Meanwhile, at a bank of 14 stalls selling beer and booze — Yards Pale Ales and Surfside cocktails — the lines were nonexistent. If you needed a drink, you could have gotten one in a nanosecond. This was an eating crowd, not a drinking crowd. Next time, more food options, please.

Diplo’s Run Club took over the FDR site on Saturday morning, and part two of MTWB is scheduled for Sunday, with Remi Wolf headlining and Magdalena Bay and Annie DiRusso in support. More info at mtwbconcert.com.