A Fantastic Friday featuring Visage and Ras Iley Visage

Fri, Sep 25th 2015, 12:45 AM

If you thought the temperature these past days has been hot -- then it's going to be a scorcher when Darcy "Ras Iley" Small, the man known as "Mr. Energy" and Visage, one of the most energetic bands in the country, come together to rock the stage at the hottest end of month party known as Fantastic Friday tonight.

Wherever and whenever Ras Iley performs he does his best to make people happy and he brings the "fire". The Bajan calypsonian is perhaps best known for his songs "Spring Garden on Fire" and "Inez".

"I have no doubt the Bahamian people are thirsty for good entertainment, and I'll try my best [tonight] to do the best I can to leave here making people wanting more," said Iley. "My job is to never take no audience for granted, so my homework has to be done in terms of delivering what I have to offer to Bahamian people. And I hope to offer a dish that is very Caribbean, and very palatable to the people of The Bahamas."

Iley's appearance at this special edition of Fantastic Friday in the ballroom at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel is the official launch of the October 28-31 Caribbean Muzik Festival (CMF). The CMF is a star-studded event that showcases annually over 25 of the region's most renowned and exciting entertainers.

The last time the CMF was staged in The Bahamas was in 1994. Iley performed then as well.

"The Bahamas has always been a welcoming place for me, I had a couple of years here in the 90's with the music festival and that was the "Spring Garden" ... "Inez" era and the people really had a nice time. And wherever I go, I always try to produce songs that have life and try to make people happy," he said.

Iley who has been singing since 1983 when he popped onto the scene as a 16-year-old describes himself as an authentic calypsonian who earned his place. The man who will "hot up" one of the hottest events on the monthly calendar said when he first started out artists of his ilk were referred to as social commentators.

"I came in an era when there was Gabby, Red Plastic Bag, The Mighty Gryner... so I had to really work my way inside the mix. It wasn't like nobody giving me no break because they feel I was young. I had to produce in order to be on the same setting with those people."

In his first year, Iley sang a song called "False Accusation and Propaganda: The Hypocrites Using to Destroy Rasta" which turned out to be quite controversial. He was also the first Rasta Man in Barbados' Pic-O-De-Crop semifinals and it created a stir. The high energy Ras Iley of that era is the Ras Iley that he is today. And he says nothing has changed, other than the fact that he got popular through that song.

As he continued to enter competitions, the man that will jumpstart CMF with his performance tonight at Fantastic Friday recognized that if he was going to produce an album, that he needed songs for the party to help sell his albums. He stomped his authority on the world of calypso with "Spring Garden on Fire".

Visage singer Dyson Knight promises the same high energy from his group as they share their Fantastic Friday stage with Iley. He said they were excited.

"Tomorrow night is going to be the same energy that you expect from myself, from Sean, from Ericka, Nehemiah and Wendi Lewis. We had a nice rehearsal [Wednesday] night. With the energy we had inside the room it was just crazy and we are very excited about [tonight]," he said.

Due to Iley and the CMF launch, the Fantastic Friday event has been moved from the Bullion Bar to the Hilton's ballroom, which Knight said would make for a different vibe. He said the soundmen worked hard to ensure the music would be pumped and full-bodied.

"Everyone's excited to see Ras and to enjoy Visage, so there's a lot of excitement surrounding Fantastic Friday," he said. And you should plan to party later into the night, because instead of wrapping up at 10 p.m., the Fantastic Friday affair will party on past the bewitching midnight hour.

"We're going until 12:30 a.m. in the ballroom so we don't have to worry about guest complaints, so this is a real Fantastic Friday -- Visage, Ras Iley, Soca party, Rake n' Scrape, Junkanoo," said Visage leader Obi Pindling.

Greg Lampkin, operations manager at Star 106.5FM, said he thrilled that CMF had chosen to officially launch at a Fantastic Friday event.

"We would like to think it's us... Star/Guardian being the reason they actually chose Fantastic Friday, but we realize it's Visage and accept that. We were wise enough to know in the beginning that us combined with Visage we have a winning combination, and this Friday is absolutely going to be off the chain. This Friday you don't want to miss," said Lampkin.

During the event patrons will also have the opportunity to win tickets to CMF, according to Star 106.5 FM programming director Tony Williams.

"The Caribbean Muzik Festival will bring the top entertainers from around the Caribbean to The Bahamas. Basically every genre of music that's represented in this region will be represented here during those couple of days. It's just a big festival and a lot of Bahamians looked forward to it when it came in the 1990s, and just about every known Caribbean artist back in that era would have performed here," said Williams.

At the CMF patrons will see a fusion of Caribbean musicians performing together -- so expect to see a Barbadian singer with a Bahamian band; Bahamian singers with Jamaican bands; and Bahamian singers with Trinidadian bands.

"The whole idea is to bring the world to the understanding that The Bahamas is the gateway to the Caribbean, and we are all one people, and one of our strengths is our talents and our musical talent as well," said Earl Thompson, marketing and promotions manager with CMF.

Tonya Bethel, sales manager at the British Colonial Hilton said they were excited to have the launch of the CMF at the Hilton.

"Of course we're always excited to have Visage and Fantastic Fridays being hosted here, it will be a great event, and will go a little longer, and we will have our bar specials, and we'll have a hors d'oeuvres served throughout the night, and parking won't be an issue," she said.

With Ras Iley in the house, Fantastic Friday patrons will get an extra bang for their $20 admission which includes one drink up to 9 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.

FANTASTIC FRIDAY

Featuring: Visage and Ras Iley
When: Friday, September 25
Where: British Colonial Hilton Hotel ballroom
Time: Doors open at 6:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.
Admission: $20 includes one drink up to 9 p.m.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads