Kes to host IzWe concerts

REIGNING Soca Monarch and Road March champ Kees Dieffrenthaller of Kes the Band, who won the titles in a collaboration with Neil "Iwer" George, has partnered with the Ministry of Tourism to stage and market a series of scaled-down and socially-distanced, live concerts from February 9-13.

Only 1,500 or so patrons will be able to experience the performances of Kes The Band live due to covid19 protocols for limited audiences at live performance events.

The mini-concert series, dubbed IzWe, consists of five nights of live concerts celebrating soca, calypso and TT culture, said a media release.

The IzWe series will feature several surprise special guests each night and takes place at the spacious, open-air venue theatre Sound Forge, just off Mucurapo Road, Port of Spain.

In compliance with the Ministry of Health’s covid19 theatre guidelines of 50 per cent capacity, each night of KTB’s performance will be open to only 300 patrons.

The final performance on February 13 will be aired live on local television and on affiliates across the Caribbean. Fans outside the region can livestream the concert at Kes’ website, www.kestheband.com, but must purchase tickets to do so. The live stream is free within the Caribbean, the release said.

Lead singer Kees Dieffenthaller explained that with Carnival festivities on pause in 2021, the band decided to rebrand and extend its Carnival season event to multiple nights of live music. This was decided in order to accommodate more fans, while keeping within the maximum gathering size.

He said in the release: “IzWe is a presentation of WE culture in all its different aspects...We’ll be celebrating the essence of who we all are as Caribbean people.

"It all began with drums and fire and, out of the revolution of our ancestors, Carnival which came to be the sweetest revolution. As such, we are celebrating our light in these dark times.”

The inaugural We Home livestream event was held on Independence Day, August 2020, with We Home: Under One Roof, following up on Boxing Day, December 26. Collectively, these performances raised US$15,000 in charitable funds, which were donated to TT-based charities The Shelter and the Touching Hands Project, the release said.

Dieffenthaller said: “We are rallying together with the best of the best in the artform currently and celebrating the works of past greats, while bringing it into one place, one event, one moment where we all celebrate our culture together and in harmony and in unity…

“As we assemble in limited numbers and with all protocols observed, we will celebrate the why – why we do this, the joy of it, in hope of a brighter future, in hope of a different time.

"In this time, we want to hold the torch, we want to light the flambeau and keep that Caribbean and Carnival flambeau lit.”

On January 26, Kes The Band released its first single of 2021, Keep Jammin’ On, a collaboration with DJ/producer, DJ Private Ryan.

Limited advance tickets for IzWe are available at www.kestheband.com.

Follow @kesthebandofficial on IG and Twitter for updates and more information.