Machel Montano Back in Brooklyn at Floyd Bennett Field | 2011
On July 3, 2011, Machel Montano brought the HD Family to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, for “Back in Brooklyn,” a major outdoor Soca concert during the July 4th holiday weekend.
The original event flyer advertised the show from 5 PM to midnight at Floyd Bennett Field, with Machel returning to Brooklyn alongside a lineup of familiar names from the 2011 Soca season.
For New York’s Caribbean audience, the concert arrived during one of the biggest periods of Machel Montano’s career.
Machel’s Big 2011 Season
Machel arrived in Brooklyn as both the reigning International Power Soca Monarch and Trinidad and Tobago Road March winner.
His 2011 hit “Advantage” had helped define that year’s Carnival season, marking a major return to competition and giving Machel renewed momentum heading into his international performances.
New York had already experienced that momentum earlier in the year. On March 25, 2011, Machel brought The Return to The Theater at Madison Square Garden, where he performed alongside the HD Family and a wide range of special guests.
Related Archive:
https://julianspromos.com/archives/machel-montano-madison-square-garden-2011
By July, the focus had shifted from Manhattan to Brooklyn.
Back in Brooklyn
The original promotional artwork billed the July 3 concert as “Machel Montano Back in Brooklyn.”
Machel was joined by several artists closely associated with the HD era. Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Zan, Benjai and Kerwin Du Bois were part of the lineup documented around the event.
The original flyer also advertised appearances by T.C., Lyrikal and Yankee Boy.
That distinction is worth preserving in the archive: the flyer confirms that those artists were promoted as part of the event, while surviving footage and historical records may not document every advertised appearance.
Machel Montano performs at Back in Brooklyn at Floyd Bennett Field on July 3, 2011.
The HD Family at Floyd Bennett Field
The concert gave Brooklyn audiences more than a single Machel Montano performance.
The HD era was built around a broader group of artists and performers, allowing Machel’s major concerts to move between his own catalog and appearances from other prominent Soca voices of the period.
With Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Zan, Benjai and Kerwin Du Bois connected to the night, Back in Brooklyn brought several recognizable sounds of the 2011 Carnival season together at one New York event.
More Than the 2011 Carnival Hits
Machel’s performance extended beyond the music dominating that year’s Trinidad Carnival.
During the show, he also changed the pace with a reggae tribute, including music associated with Buju Banton and several Bob Marley selections before returning to Soca.
The segment reflected the broader Caribbean influences that had long appeared throughout Machel’s live performances, while the core of the night remained centered on Soca and the HD sound.
More surviving footage from Machel Montano’s Back in Brooklyn concert at Floyd Bennett Field in 2011.
I’d put the second video here rather than directly underneath the first one. It breaks up the article visually and gives readers another reason to keep scrolling.
From the Julianspromos Archives
Julianspromos preserved footage from Machel Montano’s July 2011 appearance at Floyd Bennett Field, leaving behind another visual record of New York’s Soca history.
The concert is especially notable when viewed alongside Machel’s other New York appearances that year. Only a few months separated The Return at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and Back in Brooklyn at Floyd Bennett Field, with both events capturing Machel during the momentum of his 2011 Power Soca Monarch and Road March victories.
More than a decade later, the surviving footage offers a look back at a period when the HD era was in full swing and some of the biggest names in Soca were appearing together before New York’s Caribbean audience.
Back in Brooklyn remains part of the Julianspromos archive documenting Machel Montano, the HD Family and New York’s Caribbean entertainment scene in 2011.
