Getting to the Big Easy’s most popular venue–The Superdome for the last night of Essence Festival–was a difficult task Sunday night. Rain poured. But the show had to go on as planned, leaving opening duo Floetry to sing at 7pm to a room still mostly waiting for its wet attendees to arrive. Those already there were treated to an intimate set of the reunited twosome’s classics.
Floacist Natalie Stewart was essentially a spoken word empowerment speaker, encouraging fans to let go of BS relationships, while singer Marsha Ambrosius belted out cuts like “Butterflies,” which she wrote for Michael Jackson, slipping in “I Can’t Help It” from his Off the Wall album.
“Ms. Stress” was another highlight, but a thoughtful downer. “It’s better that it hurts,” they sing. “It’s better that it feels this way to me. I can’t be too comfortable ’cause loving you is not my destiny.”
Of course, “Say Yes” took the cake. Their biggest song about embracing the passion of two colliding hit hard at the Dome. Fans got up to groove. Somehow, being damp or soaked made sense in that instance.