It’s FLO’s world and on Saturday night, Arizona was just living in it. The British girl group’s Access All Areas Tour visited The Van Buren and the trio was greeted with an incredibly enthusiastic audience that was ready to dance the night away.
Before the headlining magic, pop singer Jae Stephens hyped up the already energetic crowd with a no-nonsense performance that had those on the barricade falling in love. Her songs touch on love, heartbreak and, of course, letting go of anything not serving your life. Stephens was funny and full of gratitude in turns, speaking directly to the fans and making them part of her time onstage. She fully captured the room’s attention, leaving on a high note to make way for FLO.
The preshow playlist had the audience singing and dancing and they kept that hype alive as Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma, and Renée Downer emerged as silhouettes behind the stage set’s red arches. Dressed in coordinating outfits and serving absolutely stunning vocals, the show was already next level from the first notes of “AAA” and “Walk Like This”. The trio’s confidence onstage makes it seem like they’ve been performing for much longer than their budding career- they never missed a step or a note.
The girls perched themselves on the stairs to greet their adoring fans, laughing with unfiltered joy at the response to the beginning of the show. They take performing very seriously but aren’t afraid to be goofy with each other and with the audience- and they’re loved all the more for it. The set was a story in three acts and included “Fly Girl”, “Shoulda Coulda Woulda” and “In My Bag” (with the extended jam session getting everyone loose towards the end of the night).
With comparisons to Destiny’s Child and the R&B queens that came before them, it’s immediately obvious that FLO is putting in the work to achieve inevitable superstardom. Their vocals never wavered, the choreography was precise and the gratitude was genuine as they thanked their fans repeatedly for their support throughout the night. The final encore was “I’m Just a Girl”- and that may be true for now but the next time we see FLO, it will be on a much bigger stage.
