Missy Elliott Gives an Intergalactic Show at the Amerant Bank Arena

If you are a millennial living in South Florida, you should know that Missy Elliott brought her talents to the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise last night.

Set against a late summer night backdrop, an all-star team of late-'90s and early-2000s nostalgia came together to bring one of the best arena experiences in recent years.

It all began when legendary producer Timbaland came out on stage for a DJ set, dropping a set of his deep catalogue of hits, including, but not limited to, tracks like "Promiscuous" and "The Way I Are." Considering his extensive collaborations with Elliott and Busta Rhymes, Timbo as the opener for the Out of This World Tour shouldn't be all that surprising.

But before either could take the stage, it was Ciara's turn. She came on with a cavalcade dance, performing atop a slanted stage hits like "How We Roll" and "1, 2 Step." However, the most mesmerizing thing about Ciara is that she still moves like it's 2004. During several of her dance breaks, I couldn't help but think, Oh, she can give Chris Brown a run for his money.

Unfortunately, Rhymes could not match Ciara's energy. Make no mistake — I understand the importance of Rhymes' contributions to hip-hop history, but his performance was nothing special. Wearing a red leather outfit, Busta got on stage acting like Jay-Z. Often, he wouldn't start the song until the entire audience clapped and clapped as loud as they could. That's cool and all, but why stall when we all know you're going to hop on the mic and spit bars at such a supersonic speed that no one in the crowd can keep up? This led on throughout his entire set, but at least he played tracks like "Look at Me Now" and a cover of A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario."

Finally, at 9:47 p.m., the tour's top billing took the stage, and once Elliott was on, the crowd didn't want her to get off.

The tour stage production leans into its intergalactic theme, but while Missy has always been great at delivering solid concepts, she's even better at execution.

Coming out from under the stage in an orange astronaut outfit fit for an alternate Miami Marlins uniform, Missy came blasting with "Throw It Back" as the opener. The stage was set up so that two circular landings on both ends would lift during certain songs. A walkway on that stage helped Missy eventually climb onto another circular stage that would be lifted on the risers and allow her to traverse the crowd for certain songs. On top of that, there were lasers, pyro, countless costumed backup dancers, and stage graphics for every song. Oh, and there were also light-up wristbands for the crowd that simulated everything from lights to rain during "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)."

At 53, Missy's production value is making an embarrassment out of your favorite Gen Z rapper who runs around on stage with a backing track and hype man. Where most legacy artists would have taken the opportunity to go on a tour like this and perform hit songs while lacking enthusiasm, Missy went all out, taking the audience back to the days when MTV would still play videos.

With multiple outfit switches, crazy choreography, and break-dance interludes between songs, it's hard to articulate what stood out.

While Missy doesn't do a crazy amount of fan interactions like other artists, she takes time to rap her songs word for word and make sure you're getting your money's worth on these shows. Not only did Missy play the hits in between deep cuts and fan favorites, but she allowed Busta, Ciara, and Timbaland to join in on her part of the show for several collaborations, including "Up Jumps Da' Boogie," "Touch It," and the closer, "Lose Control." The South Florida show also had a special guest appearance from Dade County's own Trina, who played her banger "Pull Over."

In a day and age when some artists are doing the bare minimum, Missy is doing the complete opposite. Whether she's walking through the crowd giving hugs and high fives during "Work It" or making us feel like we're reliving her MTV VMAs performance with "Get Ur Freak On," one thing is clear: the Out of This World Tour was worth the price of admission.

There's little else that Missy could've done to leave last night's crowd even more satisfied, but if there were, she would've probably done it.