Fish Fry Fridays

Visage, Star 106 Hits and Margaritaville Beach Resort have jumpstarted the party scene with the latest end-of-month ‘grown folks’ event that re-ushers fantastic back into the last Friday of the month with Fish Fry Friday (FFF). And with one just one FFF under their belt, it’s already the most talked about event on the social scene.

FFF, which also features DJ A.I., kicked off with its first event at Margaritaville on Friday, July 1.

“After only two weeks of advertising, marketing and promotion, we were very pleasantly surprised at the response,” said Visage leader Obi Pindling. “For the first event, with such limited promotion, the turnout was amazing.”

Still in the jumpstart mood, a second FFF event will be held on July 29.

“Based on the feedback so far, the second one looks as if the turnout will be twice as big.”

Going forward, FFF will be held on the last Friday of every month.

Just how the FFF collaboration came to be is an interesting story which Pindling said was sheer coincidence.

“Knowing firstly that it [Margaritaville Beach Resort] was the ‘new hotel-kid in Downtown Nassau’ and secondly, the business relationship between there and the Hilton (who already knew and understood the concept), I decided to reach out to them. I spoke to someone I knew who was connected to their marketing department and they said: ‘Your timing couldn’t be better. We were just discussing last week the possibility of coming up with our own Friday evening event.’ I explained what we were seeking and they loved the idea.”

Pindling said they arranged an on-site meeting to discuss the concept and he was shown the property, and that he was blown away by its beauty, layout, atmosphere and ambiance.

“I felt it was a perfect fit.”

As soon as he left that walkabout he called Tony [Williams, STAR 106 Hits programming director] and Buena Wright [Star 106 Hits general manager] who had partnered with Visage since the inception of Fantastic Fridays and asked if they were interested in resuming their monthly Friday “grown folks” party event.

“COVID and its lockdowns had everybody jonesin’ and they were all for it,” said Pindling. “Follow-up meetings were arranged with Margaritaville, which I attended with the Star team [and] as Ronnie Butler would say, ‘Boom!’ – ‘Fish Fry Fridays’ was born.”

Pindling said it feels good being able to play again at a public event. With the lifting of COVID restrictions, Visage had performed at a number of private events – weddings, private parties, corporate events and the Cancer Ball. But Pindling said people frequently asked him when they would be doing something public like Fantastic Fridays that they could attend to see the band, hear them play, and dance their cares away.

“It happened so often, that that is what led to my looking into the possibilities of another event,” said Pindling.

Visage rocked the first FFF installment. They took to the stage without a standard length of play time, but try to do hourly sets. But when the groove is hot and the people are jammin’ and really into it – as does tend to happen, most times Visage goes much longer.

And during their breaks, the tempo never cools as DJ AI simply continues to keep the heat ratcheted up.

Pindling describes DJ A.I. as simply awesome.

“His music collection is second to none – especially his old school music.”

Williams said he did not know what to expect for the first Fish Fry Friday, but judging from the turnout, he said patrons were certainly looking forward to the return of their monthly event.

“Margaritaville is an awesome location. The buffet was more than expected. I totally enjoyed the food. The patrons said to me they can’t wait for the next one,” said Williams.

Fish Fry Fridays takes place at 12 Volt Bar, Margaritaville between 6:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

The $25 cover charge includes one Bacardi mojito; the $55 experience includes the Fish Fry Friday buffet at vacation café before the event and complimentary party access.

As for the name Fish Fry Fridays, Pindling said the idea and concept was entirely Margaritaville’s.

“My original request was to resume Fantastic Fridays but they said they had another concept in mind which was Fish Fry Fridays. At first, I was not sure how ‘a tourist hotel’ would execute a Fish Fry Friday concept but, oh my gosh – they did an absolutely phenomenal job. The ‘fish fry’ Bahamian food on sale in their Vacation Cafe buffet was a huge hit. The food was excellent. People are still talking about it.

“Kudos to Keino Morris, [Margaritaville] food and beverage director and also to Executive Chef Lester Dean and their entire staff. All night, people could be heard saying, ‘Wow, this is just like going to da Fry’ but it’s so much better because here, the crowd is a mature one and we have live entertainment in an atmosphere and environment where we feel so comfortable.’”