Barbary Coasters reflect on changing times ahead of second annual Parrothead Party

Parties on the beach, tacky tropical clothes and the music of Jimmy Buffett; for these Cairns music veterans, it couldn’t get any better.

PARTIES on the beach, tacky tropical clothes and the music of Jimmy Buffett; for these Cairns music veterans, it couldn’t get any better.

Nikki Lowmass and Vance Fahey of Barbary Coasters will return their Parrothead Party, normally a once-a-year event for a second time this year at the Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron at Portsmith.

Parrothead Parties have become famous for their relaxed tropical vibes and wacky costumes.

Musicians Vance Fahey and Nikki Lowmass from the Barbary Coasters, aren't happy about the noise complaints when they play their gigs at the Bungalow Hotel. PICTURE: JUSTIN BRIERTY

Nikki and Vance celebrated 30 years together as a music duo and 10 years as husband and wife last year.

“In that time, we’ve watched Cairns grow and change a lot,” Vance said.

“Musically, it’s a lot different – if you were here in the mid to late ’80s, it was a real live music scene.

“When we first started, we did 30 shows in 31 days.”

Barbary Coasters were named after the old name for the Cairns coast community, an eclectic collection of canecutters, fishermen and travellers from all walks of life making a name for themselves in the Far North.

Nikki and Vance considered themselves full-time performers up until 2015, and even after that they still play at least one show a week.

“Nowadays, we only play places we like, and that appreciate us,” Vance said.

“There’s so much that goes into getting a gig at the pokie and TV joints, so we’d rather stick to the smaller clubs, the beach communities like Yorkeys Knob, the ones that embrace that tropical lifestyle.”

The Barbary Coasters are celebrating 25 years as a Cairns music duo. They do tropical rock. Nikki Lowmass and Vance Fahey.

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Vance said they opted to do a second Parrothead Party after the previous one in May due to growing interest from the Cruising Yacht Squadron.

“We’d been doing some shows for them and they’d been asking about it, so we said we’d give it a go,” he said.

“The yachties are right into it, everyone gets dressed up in their wildest gear.”

Barbary Coasters’ Parrothead Party is on this Saturday, 2-6pm at 42-48 Tingira St, Portsmith. Entry free, proceeds will go towards White Ribbon for domestic violence. They will also be doing a sunset cruise on September 13 to raise money for the Far North Hospital Queensland Foundation Cardiac Challenge bike ride to Cooktown. Tickets $65 per person, book at https://fnqhf.org.au/event/sunsetcruise

Originally published as Barbary Coasters reflect on changing times ahead of second annual Parrothead Party