Kes the Band Brings “Wotless” to Queens in 2011
On May 29, 2011, Kes the Band brought one of the biggest Soca songs of the year to Queens for The Official Wotless Fete at Maracas Night Club & Lounge in Richmond Hill, New York.
Only a few months earlier, Kees Dieffenthaller had won the 2011 International Groovy Soca Monarch title with “Wotless,” turning the song into one of the defining records of that Carnival season.
For Julianspromos, the night became important for another reason: Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson interviewed Kes the Band, marking the platform’s first major artist interview.
The photos that survive from the event now capture both sides of that moment — Kes in the middle of a major year and Julianspromos still near the beginning of its original media coverage.
“Wotless” Had Taken Over Carnival
By the time Kes reached Queens, “Wotless” was already much bigger than another Carnival release.
Kees had won the Groovy Soca Monarch title in March, defeating a field that included Benjai, Destra Garcia, Blaxx and Shurwayne Winchester. Contemporary coverage described his Soca Monarch performance as one of the standout moments of the competition.
The song also anchored the band’s Wotless Carnival Album, released in February 2011, giving Kes a full project around the momentum of the record.
That made the May appearance in Queens part of a particularly strong period for the Trinidad and Tobago band.
Kes Comes to Richmond Hill
The Official Wotless Fete brought Kes into Maracas Night Club & Lounge, a Caribbean nightlife venue on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill.
Unlike the large Soca Monarch stage where “Wotless” had won its title just months earlier, the New York appearance placed the band inside a more intimate club environment.
The surviving photographs show Kes performing with the band during the night, while the original event flyer preserves another piece of the period.
For anyone who followed Soca in 2011, the images immediately place the event back in that era — when “Wotless” was still new and Kes was riding the momentum of one of the band's biggest Carnival breakthroughs.
Vivaa Sits Down With Kes
The night also became an early milestone in Julianspromos’ move into artist interviews.
Young Devyn had been interviewed earlier in 2011 while still an emerging artist. The Kes conversation became Julianspromos’ first major artist interview, bringing the platform face-to-face with an established Caribbean act during one of the biggest moments of the band's career.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson conducted the interview.
It was still early in Vivaa’s on-camera work with Julianspromos, years before she would go on to cover artists, concerts, fetes and Carnival events across several markets.
The Kes interview captures that beginning without needing much explanation: a new interviewer sitting down with a band that was having a very big year.
A Snapshot of Kes in 2011
Looking back, the timing is what makes the night especially interesting.
Kes had already been an established band for several years, but “Wotless” pushed the group into a different level of visibility during the 2011 Carnival season.
The band spent that year performing across the Caribbean and diaspora while continuing to develop a sound that mixed Soca with Pop, R&B, Rock and other influences. Later that summer, Kes released Stereotype as the group continued moving beyond strictly seasonal Carnival music.
The Queens appearance therefore sits right in the middle of a year when Kes was moving quickly.
Photos from the Night
The surviving images preserve three pieces of The Official Wotless Fete:
Kes performing with the band inside Maracas Night Club & Lounge
the original event flyer
Kes with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson during the night
From the Julianspromos Archives
The May 29, 2011 Official Wotless Fete remains a small but meaningful piece of New York Soca history.
It captures Kes the Band while “Wotless” was still one of the biggest songs of the year and preserves Julianspromos’ first major artist interview at a time when its original media work was just beginning to develop.
Only a few weeks later, Julianspromos would cover TEMPO Turns 6 at Six Flags Great Adventure, its first event in an official media capacity.
More than fifteen years later, the Queens photographs still offer a direct look back at where both stories were at the time.
