Emeli Sandé hangs with opening band, Rudimental, before her Central Park Summerstage show.

If you know me, then you know how much I hate rain. Like, I take bad weather personally. (You can read more about that in my One Direction live at Jones Beach review!) Sorry in advance for the rant, but winter in NYC is bad enough without getting literally downpoured on every time you step out of the subway from June through August. (Don’t look at me like that! That’s really how it felt!)

But hey, let’s look on the (metaphorical) sunny side! If I have to brave NYC’s grumpy, rainy streets for anything, you know I’m going to pull it together long enough to watch Emeli Sandé perform a stunning outdoor set right smack in the middle of Central Park. Sure, the weather that night might’ve been grey, overcast, and totally rainy, but it’s all good! Because Emeli is an absolute goddess who probably a) made it rain in the first place, then b) made it stop raining as soon as she walked onstage.

Read more about Emeli Sandé’s Central Park Summerstage performance after the jump.

Performing at Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield, the U.K. R&B/pop sensation AND VMA presenter spent the majority of her set seated behind a piano and busting out earth-shattering (and sometimes stripped-down) tracks, many of which appear on her 2012 disc, Our Version Of Events.

Opening with “Daddy,” Emeli moved forward with one of her most well-known cuts, “Heaven,” which she dedicated to “those with good intentions.” And the cry-me-a-river-fest didn’t stop there: “This song is for my sister, Lucy,” said Sande before launching into “Breaking The Law.” Later, Emeli dedicated “My Kind Of Love” to her mother, while asking the audience to “sing it together; fill up the park!” And WE DID.

Following songs like “Clown,” “Read All About It, Pt. III.” (which, ahem, you might remember from Emeli closing out last year’s Summer Olympics in London), “Where I Sleep,” “Suitcase,” “Lifted,” and “Wonder,” Emeli ended her set with a powerful encore of “Next To Me,” which the entire audience joined in on for the chorus.

Seriously, just picture 10,000 New Yorkers (OK, slight number exaggeration, but bear with me here) dancing, swaying, clasping their arms around their friends, and helping Emeli finish out one of her best-known singles. All in the face of certain thunder/lightning/rain/Central Park mudslides! You’d think this was Bonnaroo or something! (Except not, because please don’t take me to Bonnaroo.)

+ Watch Emeli Sande perform “Next To Me” in Central Park.

Photo credit: @rudimentaluk/ Instagram: Courtesy of Billboard