Dressed in an angelic white gown with a neckline woven in a delicate lattice of pearls, Destra Garcia stepped into a different kind of spotlight—emerging through clouds to open her first gospel concert, Reflections, with a psalm and a prayer.
The Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, stage glowed with reverence and restraint on Saturday night. This wasn’t the Destra known on Carnival stages around the world as the Queen of Bakannal. This was the Destra that grew up under the roof of a Baptist reverend and a deaconess mother — the Destra who, as she said, “starts most mornings with gospel tunes.”
Backed by a crisp five-piece band and choir, Destra offered up an unfiltered version of herself, beginning with a stirring rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Look to You.” Her voice soared, dipped, and fluttered into falsetto, finding grace in restraint. Yolanda Adams’ “Open My Heart” followed, with Destra declaring: “God is the boss, so right now I’m going to open my heart and let it all sink in.”
But the night’s most tender moment came early, when she invited her daughter, Xaiya Morris, onstage for a duet of “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” Dressed in a pink, sparkly gown and tiara, Xaiya looked like a Disney princess when she held her mother’s hand — a quiet moment of generational faith that drew teary smiles throughout the room.
From there, Reflections unfolded in chapters: Helen Baylor’s “The Sea of Forgetfulness” set against a screen of moonlight and tide; a candle-lit choir of tots sweetly singing “Yes Jesus Loves Me”; and another group miming Sinach’s “I Know Who I Am.”
In her second wardrobe change — a flowing blue gown— Destra leaned into Jody Watley’s “It All Begins With You,” before pausing to remind the audience that this was no sudden pivot.
“A lot of people think this is something new,” she told the attentive Hall. “But the real Destra fans know on my very first album there was a gospel song on there. Then the second one. And the third one. I just decided to take a stop for a lil bit — but now is that time to return.”
That return came fully into view with JoAnn Rosario’s “More, More, More,” which Destra dedicated to “the best friend ever — Jesus, because he doh tell my secrets to anybody.”
Voice of God
But it was during her cover of Tamela Mann’s “God Provides” that she struck a deeper chord.
Speaking candidly, Destra shared: “After skipping Carnival this year, I was a lil bit scared. But I said let me just listen to this voice of God that keeps telling me to do this album. But that means I can’t record a single soca song until I’m done with this. Then I start wondering, how am I going to live? If I miss Carnival, I may not get hired after. But the Bible says, do not worry about what you will wear, what you will eat, what you will drink. Right? I trust in God 100%.”
Later, her voice surged with Jekalyn Carr’s “You’re Bigger,” not always pitch-perfect, but always honest — powerful in its imperfection. She then transitioned into the “Hymn of Joy” with a choir, raising the hall in a communal swell of “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.”
The production levels elevated from there. A pair of male vocalists lifted “You Raise Me Up” with stirring harmonies, before Destra returned in her final outfit — a white sparkly gown with train — to perform Fanny Crosby’s “To God Be the Glory.”
Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” followed, her delivery raw and emotive, before shifting into CeCe Winans’ “Goodness of God,” backed by screens of soft pink and yellow poui blooms.
And just when the audience thought the spirit might be winding down, Destra reignited it with a defiant declaration.
“When I do my next album, I’m not doing a single slow ballad — you have enough! You have 12 on this one. My next album will be songs like this!” she bellowed before launching into Chris Tomlin and Elevation Worship’s “Yahweh (No One)”.
Destra took her Reflections to her Baptist church origins ending the evening on a high.
“I have to pay homage to how I grew up,” Destra said, cueing a medley of Sankey hymns — “Jordan River,” “I Am Under the Rock,” “Sign My Name Up There” — transforming Queen’s Hall into a revival.
In total, Destra’s two-hour-long musical worship was equal parts concert and confession, a daring spiritual detour from one of soca’s most recognisable stars. In the end, she didn’t just perform — she ministered.
Reflections wasn’t a genre shift. It was a soul unfiltered. And on this night, that was more than enough.
