Emerging from a neon box, decked from head to toe in diamantes, sequins and pearls and donning a cap that clearly read QUEEN, Missy Elliott made her return to U.S stages in nearly a decade felt by one and all at the FYF Fest’s opening night on Friday in Los Angeles.
Kicking things off with “She’s A Bitch”, “One Minute Man”, “I’m Really Hot” and “We Run This”, Elliott thanked the crowd for supporting her over 2 decades, shouting out to “those fans from Day 1” before asking “can I party with y’all?”
Flanked by dancers in raincoats, she rolled into “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”, “All N My Grill” and “Sock It 2 Me”, running back and forth across the stage to greet some famous fans in the form of Tyler the Creator, Janet Jackson and Katy Perry and losing a shoe in the process. Not that it stopped her.
What stopped Elliott not once but twice at the start of “Get Your Freak On” was her appeal to the audience to “put your phones down and jump…I’m going to keep stopping this joint until I see it,” giving the track the energy and full appreciation it deserved.
As she moved down into the crowds to be amongst her “day ones”, screens played montages showcasing her vast array of impressive and innovative music videos over the years and the great lengths gone to achieve them, including being covered with bees, swinging from a chandelier and the multiple underwater asthma-inducing takes required to achieve “She’s A Bitch”. 15 years may have elapsed since “Work It” first hit the airwaves but as Elliott affirmed via video: “The music we created was so ahead, it couldn’t be dated.”
After a frenetic line-dancing break for “Pass That Dutch”, Elliott was momentarily forced offstage due to an technical issue but soon returned with cap now reading ICON and a greeting to her FYF Main Stage comrade Björk, Solange and fellow Royal family member, Beyonce. “Mama, I made it!” joked Elliott, before closing the night out with a firestorm of hits that included 1, 2 Step, new tune “I’m Better” (the first time it was every performed live) and “Lose Control”.
Here’s the full setlist:
She’s a Bitch
One Minute Man
I’m Really Hot
We Run This
Gossip Folks
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Hot Boyz
All n My Grill
Sock It 2 Me
Get Ur Freak On
Lick Shots
Work It
Pass That Dutch
Ching-A-Ling
Shake Your Pom Pom
The Things You Do
Let It Go
One In a Million
1, 2 Step
I’m Better
WTF (Where They From)
Lose Control
Rock The Boat
FYF Fest continues tomorrow night in Los Angeles with Nine Inch Nails, Solange, Run The Jewels and Australia’s own Julia Jacklin helping bring the festival to a close. For more information on the event, head to fyffest.com and stay tuned to the AU review for more on ground coverage!
Photo: FYF Fest Twitter, by Kayla Reefer.
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