There’s a certain level of comfort in Fiamma on Friday nights. Comfort seems like an odd word to describe a club packed with sweaty young adults, but it’s not far from the truth: the patrons of Fiamma expect to have a good time, and that’s exactly what they get.
A Friday in Fiamma isn’t all liquor and smoke, though; it’s constructed and organized, most notably, by college students as well. Fiamma Fresh Fridays (FFF) has become the breeding ground for PR-savvy kids with a head for a business thriving on their youth and energy.
Staying fresh
Despite its current success, it was not too long ago that Fiamma found itself at a standstill, the disregarded option to more widely recognized clubs like Republiq and Manor. It was only when Fiamma decided to take a step back that they spotted a new opportunity: the younger, college crowd.
Thus, younger event organizers were hired, such as Asia Noble (AB Eu ‘11), Gaby Herbosa (II BS CTM) and Mikko Abello (IV BFA CW), to attract and infuse fresh blood to the ailing club. These new organizers began by inviting their own friends and big barkadas. Once established, they branched out and invited different people to try a night at FFF for themselves.
On Saturdays, the older crowd lounges on the couches, sipping cocktails and discussing soufflé-thin topics. On Fridays, though, the young FFF regulars fill up the club, drinking and dancing the night away.
The hosts meet at the beginning of each week to brainstorm and figure out the details of the coming Friday. They then spend the rest of the week putting the event together.
Abello says, “The biggest challenge is always trying to top the previous Friday. It gets hard because I’m graduating, and the workload is really heavy.” Still, he takes his work at Fiamma seriously because, as he puts it, it’s training for when he opens a club of his own.
From getting posters made to booking DJs, every week is a production: “On Thursdays, we’re here to meet and start setting up. Then on Fridays, we’re early also, fixing even the fruits in the basket,” says Herbosa, referring to the oranges used as centerpieces in all of the club’s tables as cheeky metaphors for how FFF keeps everything “fresh.”
“People think we just party here, but they don’t see that, for us, it’s also the one night of the week we have fun, or at least try to, because the rest of the week we’re working,” says Mikko.
Sounds and sights
It’s that attention to detail that keeps photographer Deej Fabian (II BFA ID) on his toes, watching the crowd to get the best photos of the night. “There are late nights when you’re already tired, and then Mikko or Gaby messages me, ‘Derek Ramsey is here, take his photo!’ You have to be everywhere,” he says.
The photographers’ marketing goal is straightforward: make Fiamma-goers want to change their Facebook profile picture to one with the FFF logo, as subtle validation of a Friday night spent well. The photos play an especially big role in the post-FFF buzz—even the “photo taken down by request” sign put up on the FFF Facebook account to replace photos taken down exactly for that reason is enough to spark a bit of online intrigue.
Fabian believes that the job of an event photographer is “to translate how the party was to someone who wasn’t there. You have to get people to feel whatever you’re trying to capture—wild, very colorful, lights going in and out all over.”
What Fabian captures is the very vibe that the Fiamma DJs work to keep going throughout the entire night. FFF’s music itself is as unpredictable—yet in style—as the crowd it plays for.
Bobby Maddatu (AB Eco ‘09) draws from his experience being in the audience and not wanting to hear the same music played in every club in Manila; so when it’s his turn to dictate the music, the Top 40 hits are tempered with an indie edge, refusing to simply throw in all the guaranteed hits. “It’s mainstream music, but select,” he explains.
Meanwhile, Katsy Lee (AB Comm ‘11) likens pumping up a crowd as a DJ to doing the same at UAAP games in her stint as the team captain of the Blue Babble Battalion. The newest DJ to come aboard, she now spins on the same team as Fiamma mainstays Jazz Zamora (AB Psy ‘08), Renz Unson (II AB IS), Pao Abrihan (AB Comm ‘11), Toons Canoy (AB IS ‘09), and Bobby, all of whom she says “really know what makes a crowd run.”
Still crisp
Although easily branded as mere “party kids,” the FFF team has evolved into a well-oiled machine, spawning Friday night hit after Friday night hit. They don’t rest on their laurels, though—once the last person leaves Fiamma each Friday, they’re already thinking of the theme for the next FFF.
Their special projects include Atenean-centric FFF’s, such as 4-Peat Friday, which celebrated Ateneo’s fourth straight UAAP basketball championship. It’s not only themed parties that draw Ateneans to Fiamma, though; it’s the crowd as well. FFF regular Gisella Velasco (II BS CTM) explains its unique pull: “It’s at both ends of the spectrum. The vibe doesn’t depend on the club, but the amount of people that go and the kind of people who go.”
From the photos to the music, from the events they partner up with to the organizations they court, it’s all part of the carefully curated FFF experience. And while each member of the team works to customize each event, they’re not above slicing a lemon and offering it to the guests with a shot of tequila they’ve poured themselves.
Admittedly, the FFF team’s work may not seem strenuous at first, but the fact remains that these young adults go beyond “just” partying, finding ways to make every Friday night one to remember.
