Kes the Band brought the ultimate carnival night fete to Cayman on 9 May at Camana Bay’s Festival Green for Sundown, a Batabano event, heating things up to kickoff carnival weekend.
Fans and Carnival revellers welcomed the Trinidadian soca band, which is celebrating 20 years of the group’s musical journey this year, singing along and dancing to the band’s hit songs, including ‘Hello’, ‘Liki Tiki’, ‘Wotless’, ‘Tack Back’, and ‘Savannah Grass’.
During their 60-minute performance, the band — comprised of lead vocalist Kees Dieffenthaller (also known as Kes), his brother Jon (guitar), Dean James (drums), and childhood friend Riad Boochoon (bass) — engaged fans and concertgoers with their soulful vocals and calypso-inspired melodies, intertwined with their dynamic mix of R&B, pop, rock, EDM and reggae.
The night also saw performances by local artists DJ Fresh, Erica Assai, NXT Gen, and Execution Sound.
‘Cayman and I have great memories’
No stranger to the Cayman stage, Kes has performed numerous times on island over the years, including for Capella music festival in 2024.
“I always look forward to coming back to Cayman,” Dieffenthaller told Compass TV in the lead up of the event.
“Cayman and I have a lot of great memories. A lovely place, lovely people. Cayman has seen me grow up, so I’m really grateful to be here anytime.”
Since the formation of the band, the group has grown into mainstream popularity across Trinidad, the Caribbean diaspora, Canada and North America.
“It’s amazing to see the genre and the music and the vibration be applied in different spaces. I think that’s part of what really keeps me going. When we play for crowds, we don’t know who they are; we sort of have to teach them how to soca, or you know, what it is … and to see people really just gravitate to the natural energy of it, is really amazing,” Dieffenthaller said.
“That’s part of the mission too, to really spread around places and put the genre and the brand in different spaces that probably never been done before.”
In marking their 20-year milestone, the group is spreading the love of soca music on their Heat Meh Up tour across Canada, the Caribbean and North America.
Dieffenthaller said, “It’s amazing … surreal to look back on 20 years … to see the moments.”
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