Yes, the first day of the Roots Picnic turned into a big mess. But how was the music?

The Roots Picnic had a rough day on Saturday, with the rain-soaked start of the weekend-long Fairmount Park festival marred by hourslong delays that angered concertgoers and overshadowed top-notch performances by neo-soul vocalist Maxwell, Nigerian songwriter Tems, Memphis rapper GloRilla, and British-Sudanese singer Elmiene.

The Picnic, which was founded by Philadelphia’s (and the world’s) greatest hip-hop band in 2008 and first moved to the expanded campus of the Mann Center in 2019, has grown into a beloved celebration of Black music, culture, and food that kicks off the summer concert season in earnest.

But on Saturday, there was little love in the air on the expanded site of the Mann, and even less outside the gates, where people waited in lines that stretched longer and longer as the opening of the fest was pushed back so last-minute repairs could be made to the festival grounds.

The culprit was the heavy rain that drenched the grassy 22-acre site of the city-owned Mann, transformed for the Picnic with the construction of an outdoor stage built in a Fairmount Park field that is typically used for parking. That renders the amphitheater known as the TD Pavilion the smaller of two Picnic stages.

The larger roofless Fairmount Stage hosts the fest’s biggest acts, which included Maxwell, Tems, and Miguel on Saturday. It’s where Meek Mill and Lenny Kravitz are scheduled to play on Sunday.

On Saturday, much of the viewing area in front of the Fairmount performers was a muddy goo, a result of the soaking the city endured Friday night in a wet week.

When the gates finally opened at 3:25 p.m., rapper FattMack from Montgomery, Ala., was the first act up in front of an essentially empty amphitheater. The room began to fill by the time he was followed by Lady Alma, the veteran Philly house music diva, who sang over prerecorded music but captivated as she drew out an extended disco version of the O’Jays’ “I Love Music.”

» READ MORE: Lenny Kravitz is finally coming to Roots Picnic to ‘Let Love Rule’ in Fairmount Park

At the Fairmount stage, the action got going two hours behind schedule — which was generally the pace maintained through the evening — with the SiAngie Twins, identical twins Sianney and Angelise Garcia, who are sisters of Philly boxer Danny Garcia.

They played a brief, high-energy set that would have been suitable for dancing if onlookers were able to move more freely in the mud. Domiio, a young rapper from Broomall who is signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money label, followed, impressing with his rapid-fire flow. One to watch.

Another up-and-coming Philly act who shone brightly was Kur, the Mount Airy-raised emcee who pronounces his name “core.” He had his hustle on, playing two sets in rapid succession, first at the Mann stage, where he was accompanied by roller skaters for one song, and an hour later under the tent in the Toyota Music Den, where he said he had been advised to keep it clean for a “PG experience,” amid RAV4s on display.

Fans at the fest expressed frustration, though few showed fury equal to social media commenters who were quick to overstate the Picnic’s problems and compare it to the infamous Fyre Festival debacle of 2017.

Some even found the delay useful, like Julia Seebeck and Ty Walrond from Brooklyn.

The couple had arrived at 4:30 p.m. hoping to see GloRilla, but spent two hours in line.

Lucky for them, they hadn’t missed GloRilla after all, who hit the stage closer to 7 p.m. With hair tinted — intentionally or not — a shade of Eagles green, the tough-talking Memphis native projected the first booming, commanding performance of the day, delivering bangers from her 2024 debut album Glorious, which has put her in the conversation with Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B among the leading women in hip-hop.

Philly vocalist Musiq Soulchild’s special treat was performing his 2000 neo-soul debut album, Aijuswanaseing, in its entirety for the first time. He did so at the Mann stage and was in fine voice, but the sound quality in the room was less than optimal in the far left corner of the seated theater were I found myself.

The sound was much clearer and brighter outdoors at the Fairmount Stage. Two African artists demonstrated the Picnic’s curatorial range. British-Sudanese singer Elmiene was stellar, showing how far Philly neo-soul has traveled.

“I’m not from Philly,” he said, dressed in a floor-length robe and accompanied by a subtly funky guitarist. “But Musiq Soulchild, Boyz II Men, the Roots — they brought me here.” Please come back soon.

Later, after darkness fell, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems was brilliant. She came to fame as the vocalist on fellow Nigerian Wizkid’s 2020 global smash “Essence.” She wove together contemporary R&B with Afrobeat polyrhythms with style.

» READ MORE: Who to see at the Roots Picnic? Maxwell, Meek Mill, Lenny Kravitz, the Roots, and more

In his 3 a.m. post-Picnic public statement, Questlove — whose Roots were to play their 1995 album Do You Want More? in its entirety on Sunday — proudly spoke about how the fest managed to present all acts that were advertised while only running a little over an hour past planned closing time. (Maxwell’s set ended at 12:15 a.m.)

But that meant everybody had to play, even as the long-suffering crowd was waiting impatiently for the big acts to take the stage.

So after Tems finished, it wasn’t straight on to Miguel, but instead, the turn of renowned hip-hop DJ Funk Flex.

As he exhorted us with a tone that felt like bullying — and another spin of DMX’s great but overplayed “Party Up (Up In Here)” — the wind whipped up, the temperature dropped and the rain returned. Time to head back to the Pavilion and catch Atlanta rapper “Latto” under the roof.

That entailed another wait of over an hour, which meant I missed the entirety of Miguel. Latto’s one-dimensional set had similar sound problems as Musiq Soulchild’s from my listening spot, and was a bit shrill.

Then, back to the Fairmount Stage, for — at long last — Maxwell. But no. It turned out Philly party starter DJ Diamond Cuts was on, with some special guests in a pair of Philly rappers of import: Beanie Sigel and Freeway. They teamed up on two Philly hip-hop classics: Sigel’s “Beanie (Mack Bitch)” and Freeway’s “What We Do.” A sweet Philly street rap surprise.

Then finally, Maxwell, who hit the stage at 11:30 p.m. The New York, silky soul man of Haitian and Puerto Rican ancestry was elegant, charming, generous, and a class act. He was a super sub for D’Angelo, who had canceled due to a medical issue and whom Maxwell shouted out, along with the Roots, the city of Philadelphia and “all my Caribbean people here.” He put on an immaculate performance.

He talked about how much he’s always loved the Picnic, and watched it, but never performed at it, and how pleased he was to finally be part of the community. By that time, as the crowd had thinned and the singer’s handsome visage was displayed on video screens throughout the grounds, it was hard to be mad about anything.

As he finished his set, comedian and former Picnic performer Dave Chappelle came on stage to throw his arm around Maxwell and speak to the crowd.

But when he shouted out the community-creating accomplishments of the Roots, the band’s name was greeted not with applause, but silence. The first day of the fest did turn out to be filled with rewarding performances, but the festival audience wasn’t ready to make nice with their hometown heroes. Not yet anyway.