Sunshine, small crowd, nostalgia mark first Meijer Gardens show with Billy Ocean, Starship, Taylor Dayne

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The popular summer series kicked off Sunday with plenty of elbow room for fans as the “Replay America” tour unfurled retro hits on its Grand Rapids stop. (Review, photos)

British Pop Star: Trinidad native Billy Ocean closed out the evening with soulful pop. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)

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It felt every bit like a sultry late summer day, but it was just the first, early-season salvo in a popular concert series that extends into September.

And even though the outdoor amphitheater at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park was only half full on Sunday night – an unusual occurrence to be sure – those that turned out for a retro night of classic hits courtesy of Billy Ocean, Taylor Dayne and Starship featuring Mickey Thomas got exactly what they came for: a show dripping with syrupy nostalgia on a blue-sky gem of an evening.

Room to Stretch Out: The amphitheater at Meijer Gardens on Sunday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)

Indeed, the 850 or so concertgoers reveling in this “Replay America” tour stop had plenty of elbow room to stretch out, dance and otherwise just bask in the early evening sunshine as the uber-energetic Dayne launched things with a half-hour set of dance-hued singles from the late ’80s and early ’90s, ending it all with her first big hit, “Tell it To My Heart.”

Starship featuring Mickey Thomas may have unfurled the oddest set of the evening, partly because the group trotted out a couple of songs (“White Rabbit,” “Somebody”) from Jefferson Airplane and no one from that legendary 1960s band was even on stage. But lead singer Thomas, who joined Jefferson Starship in 1979, still has the vocal chops to carry off Starship’s most popular tracks, including “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “Sara” and the much-maligned “We Built This City,” that had pretty much the entire baby-boomer audience standing in approval.

British recording hero Billy Ocean also proved his mettle on vocals, delivering the sort of soulful pop {“Are You Ready,” “Nights (Feel Like Getting Down),” “Caribbean Queen”) that made him an international star in the 1980s. And he did it while blowing kisses to the crowd (even coming off the stage to kiss a fan) and otherwise engaging sentimental fans who clearly appreciated this voyage back in time.

“It’s a happy way to enjoy life in the outdoors on a beautiful evening,” noted concertgoer and Grand Rapids native Emily Riddle.