Roberta Flack had them from the moment she opened with her “Killing” song and it didn’t stop. They swayed, they hummed, and they rocked with the music by the lady notable for jazz, blues, pop, R&B, and folk.

She is best known for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “Where is the Love,” “Feel Like Makin Love,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,” and the “Closer I get to You.” She won Grammys for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” in 1973 and 1974. This two-year feat was unsurpassed until 2001.

Flack graduated from Howard University at the age of 19 after entering at 15 on a full scholarship for piano but changed her major to voice. She was one of the youngest to ever enter Howard.

The crowd was about three times the largest draw that Department of Beaches and Harbors has ever had with its annual free summer concerts by the sea. When Flack started, cars were still stuck on Mindanao. She filled all the parking lots on Mindanao and the library parking lot. Police finally had to barricade Mindanao at Admiralty. There just was no place to park.

The hill overflowed with people sitting and standing past the picnic tables to the snack shop.

Two ladies found an area in the hedges off the sidewalk where two and only two could sit and listen to the music but not see the singer. There was only wiggle room in the crowd.

Only two concerts left. Bernadette Peters and her own orchestra will be next Thursday, 21 August, and the Pacific Mambo Orchestra on Saturday, 30 August.