THE FOG---More Than Just Your Average Hookah Lounge!

The F.O.G. aka the Fog Lounge and Hookah Bar is becoming a serious night-life competitor among the rest of downtown Anderson’s elite entertainment establishments. 

The heat is on, and it appears the competition is running neck and neck placing their bid for your weekend party dollars. I mean literally neck and neck or step in step, due to the fact that this qazi-urban hookah dance bar is downtown 134-North Main St adjacent to the entrance of Club 134 which is located above and I’m guessing less than fifty-feet away from Johnny Angells another similar establishment which is an alternate hot-spot within walking distance. I penned a very favorable article months back about Johnny Angells, if you would like to read my review on that establishment simply use the search bar on this site and type in the name but I digress. Dj Nic as I can recall happened to be the jock that put me on notice about its burgeoning transition, from just a smoked out hookah lounge, to a more downtown urban dance spot to be taken seriously. I don’t smoke personally so in most cases with these type joints (no pun intended) it tends to be a turn-off for me socially, but never-the-less I can respect a legitimate business model hustle.

When I recount my first visit to the FOG folks, I must admit I was very skeptical due to the fact of my preconceived expectations and images of these typically smoked out places. I’ve traveled in and out of many (as in smoked out clubs) in my day and always detested the smoke in my cloths after I was done playing. Real Talk! After all Johnny Angells just a couple of doors down boasted a smoke-free atmosphere to boot. But to be fair to the FOG my experience was nothing like I envisioned initially, it’s very clean and has double glass doors that separates a glass enclosure area for the hookah smokers from the main entrance of the bar-room and the elevated dance floor. It has great ventilation and I never came out smelling like a cheap cigar. You all know the smell so don’t act like it’s just me as we say in da hood! (LOL)

 

Go Ladies pic 1#

I’ve spoken briefly with the big Willie who runs the place, and goes by the name of Shareef, upon my first impression he seems very competitive and business oriented, but of course if you’re downtown A.N.D. and in business you’d best be on-top of your game or be outta there in months. I must share one awkward encounter with my readers though, the first time I, accompanied by Dj Smash approached the entrance, a rather large curious white guy checking Identification from the side-walk noticed my Nikkon camera dangling off my shoulder. With arms folded and a blank expression on his face he asked “Who are You?” I replied and told him "I’m just an old skool veteran A.N.D. Dj and now I run and manage the fastest growing urban website in Anderson that provides an urban voice online for the city." He goes “KOOL” at least now I know who you are!  After that incident we both shared a laugh and I haven’t had a problem with entering since. Kool dude by the way.

The rather large and curious white-guy that greeted me at the entrance.. (LOL)

Notice the Police Cruiser parked in front outside in the middle of the  N. Main St. Median strip..

The FOG most weekends has a nice mixed and mingle crowd featuring a live Dj on Friday and Saturday nights. DJ Fresh and Dj Jam One recently have been added to their roster for certain booking dates, thus I assume to help galvanize and attract a more diverse weekend crowd to compete with Club 134 and or Johnny Angells. A couple of dancing female bartenders have been known to “ Git jiggy with it” by doing a ritual like dance atop the refined huge wood bar counter. It really is a choreographed and synchronize thing of beauty, that when performed, most of the regular customers seem to thoroughly enjoy the spectacle of this dancing dynamic duo.

They have a superb short-order food menu but to indulge the kitchen cuisine I’d suggest you get there early due to the fact that at around eleven pm the kitchen shuts down promptly. I sampled some of the lemon pepper wings yall, and must say they were full of flavor and served in a timely fashion. My compliments to the chef. Full personable efficient customer service with elaborate top-notch flair blended with your favorite bar brand drinks to order, makes the FOG a formidable and quite viable business staple on the downtown A.N.D. scene. An extra bonus for the security minded just in-case you were wondering, is that typically an A.P.D. (Anderson Police Department cruiser) is parked right out in front of the establishment on an island median in the middle of North Main St. downtown. 

Emcee Playa GOLD and Dj Smash checking out the FOG..

Go Ladies Pic #2

By no means am I implying your visit will be guaranteed drama free, but I am making it clear that if something jumps off the authorities will be there pronto to lock the perpetrators or perpetrator up in minutes. If you decide to take in a taste of the Anderson weekend night life downtown, the FOG is one venue to place on your list. The Fly ladies, fly-guys, ballers to businessmen, new skool, old skool Hip- Hop and RNB hits can all be taken in on any given weekend by making your way through and to the FOG.

 

Go Ladies Pic #3

For those who would like to dive into the experience of full flavored tobaccos (hookah) in a communal setting while enjoying today's popular hit music, you may wanna contemplate giving the FOG Hookah Lounge a go!!!

The A.N.D. Representa again Reporting Live….Dj Tuc

The Million Dollar Funk-Fest 2015---Rocks the City of Belton and Beyond!!!

When it comes down to who is the most influential old skool semi-retired veteran dj and historical African-American Anderson radio personality, Frankie “Jammin” Jay tops the list in my opinion beyond any doubt. He recently hosted his bi-yearly huge extravaganza known to the city and surrounding counties, as the “Million Dollar Dj Reunion” that he personally founded and established well over two decades ago. In case you haven’t heard Mr. Frankie Sims is well known here in the city, most noted for being an accomplished businessman and former club owner noted for his success in the late nineties into the early 2000’s of the new millennium. You could not come to the A.N.D. during that period and not visit “Simone’s Dance Bar and Grill” the premiere hot spot here in the city for many years.

 

The A.N.D. Legend Frankie Jay along with his supportive and beautiful wifey Ms. Mona enjoy the evening together at the big show.

You may have heard some refer to it as “That thang on South Main” denoting its location nestled between the back side of the South-side and just at the forefront of the Homeland Park area on South Main St. here in the Southeast Anderson part of the city.

This fine sista from out of town by way of florida checked in & told me she really enjoyed the show that evening..

Popular PictureMan Dante Holloway can always be found at all the huge venues around the city..

For me that place holds a lot of fond memories, because I played there at certain times as a fill in Dj at times and I still vividly remember Frank telling me--- “alright Tuc play the music and leave out all that scratching.”  Oh yes I remember that well folks as I laugh about it now many years later. I also recall performing there in the capacity of an artist/producer/promoter back in 1998 with my then co-producer/emcee music partner Cleo “Cool Chuck” Oliver. During those years we were introducing a young talented singer-song writer from the West-Side that went by the name of Catrina C. 

Veteran Dj Two Tons of Fun still can entertain any and all at any given time with the mic..

For all those who can remember, this all went down at Simone’s and a picture of Catrina’s CD cover can be found on the “back down memory lane A.N.D. style” page of this very website you are reading at the moment. 

Dj T-rock and Dj Grand Master D pose for this pic together that nite..

Veteran icon Dj BiG Ike methodically surveys the dance floor before playing the next record..

Dj Frankie Jay is from whom I brorrow alot of my mic checking skills from as he displays in this shot how to motivate the crowd with a microphone..

But enough of the back-story right now but I needed to let all know that without Frankie Jay a large portion of my entertainment career and experience in the promotion game would be non-existent without him. The “Million Dollar Dj Funk-Fest” as it’s called now-a-days is a huge draw every time it’s held no matter the venue. But this particular time it was brought back to Cheers-n-Spiritz located in Belton, SC. The top-billing million dollar vintage jocks scheduled for this traditional summer event were the Duke of Soul aka Big Ike, Mr. Anderson Dj Fresh aka the scratch master, the Crowd Pleaser aka Dj Two Tons of Fun and last but not least Grandmaster T aka Dj Terry B was on deck. Notable mention and shouts go out from me personally (Dj Tuc) to Dj Doctor C, Dj Super Police and Dj Gary B.

 All the legendary Anderson jocks mentioned above all have different styles but I’ve learned so much from them about staying relevant and how to attain that elusive enduring longevity that most only dream of. 

The Definition of a Boomin System when the Million Dollar Jocks come 

to town..

These dynamic old school four horseman Dj’s were draped in white shirts, as they all exemplified professionalism, mic checking skills, turntable wizardry, crowd control, and various mixing techniqcs  while merging different classic hit records from back in the day. Keep in mind they didn’t neglect their new skool audience who came out to support them also. Dj Terry-B operates like a master chef when mixing the new sound out to day with the old hits from decades ago. The Legendary BiG Ike was all smiles the entire night as my camera lens captured the Duke of Soul in raw form, I knew at that very moment I was in the presence of one of the A.N.D.’s great renaissance dj jocks. Dj T-Rock “rocked” the crowd and his sisters with a surprise lip sync performance of R. Kelly’s “Step in the name of Love” and dedicated it to his elder siblings, for all their support of his dee- jay career over the years. 

The Million Dollar Dj Veterans from L-R are BiG Ike, Frankie Jammin Jay, Dj Terry B, and Dj Fresh..

Dj T- Rock elder sisters Iris (L) and Donna (R) they enjoyed their surprise by seeing those smiles..

Dj T-Rock takes center stage in his performance dedicated to his sisters..Not many jocks are this multi-talented..

What makes T- Rock so different folks is he’s more than your average Dj that spins records he’s also a hell of an entertainer. He took time out to thank Frankie Jay in front of all the listeners for his early dj inspiration when he decided years ago, he wanted to become a jock.

 

The fellas just love a nice pair of legs in the summertime..

Sexy ladies were in the building in all sizes and shapes posing with the pictureman!!!

Veteran Dj Two Tons was in full effect with the mic on the dancefloor..

The “Jammin’ Slammin Jay” continues to be a true statesman and icon on the local entertainment scene here in the city of Anderson with a career that spans back to the late seventies he recently shared with me, and he still remembers his first house party.  A good example of this statesmanship I speak of for instance--is when I and a female companion began our entrance on our walk-thru the door. The Jammin Jay recognized me and hurried up-front to the establishments’ main entrance to quickly inform the security personnel that I was apart of his V.I.P. guest party for that evening. I mention this not because I consider myself to be anything special but to high-light the type of class, integrity, respect that he has shown me personally over the years, and many others will testify to the same or similar encounters with him.

 

True  Players came out to support and to enjoy the nite grown folks style meaning drama free..

The Dance Floor stayed packed as you can clearly see in this shot folks..

I call this shot Tuc and T-Rock as people always have us posing for pictures when we are out together at shows..

He has scolded me on occasion as I mentioned earlier in this article, but of course it made me a better over-all dj because it was he who drilled me on the art of “HOW TO READ YOUR CROWD” and I still use this technique when on the mic in front of large crowds today. 

Now many years later I give back and say “Thanks Frank” though I wasn’t in the million dollar dj record pool officially but just the same, I became one of your dj students from the A.N.D. and I’ve learned so much from you. I hope when you read this article that I didn’t let you and Mona down. So for now I ask all to enjoy the pictures from this fabulous and fantastic night.  Peace Dj Tuc the A.N.D. Representa the city’s new urban media.

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