All my friends take good care of me

April 7, 2019

All my friends take good care of me

The Revivalists

Every now and again, I have had the opportunity to watch the trajectory of a band as they follow the trail to stardom and fame. Sometimes it can be mercurial and fast, other times there is more of a slow burn as the band puts in the time and work developing a fan base and continuing to grow in popularity over time. The band the Revivalists has taken this slow route and it has been cool to see the growth of the New Orleans based band as they continue to grow in popularity and keep returning to play in Key West over and over, each time more popular and drawing ever larger crowds.

The band, formed in New Orleans in 2007 has been playing in Key West since the beginning, they used to be a regular fixture at the Green Parrot during their earlier years. They always packed the place and people would look forward to their return each time. As they got bigger and more popular, they started to play larger venues, playing a couple of times at the end of Sunset Pier in the free concert series that they used to have there.

Now they were back, this time playing the new Key West Amphitheater in a sold-out show where tickets went for up to $75 each. Now there is a mixed feelings about having to pay so much to see a band that you used to see regularly for free, plus the fact that they are not just our little secret anymore, but how can you not be happy for a band that truly worked their way up and earned every bit of their success.

They were touting this time on the strength of their fourth studio album, “Take Good Care” which was released last August and continues to generate hit songs including the # 1 hit, “All My Friends”.  It follows three other very successful albums and an ep which have each had increasing success.



Rayland Baxter

The sold out show at the amphitheater was opened by Rayland Baxter, who returned to Key West again after playing a recent show at Coast and filming his most recent video here. This time he was backed by a full band which I think added a great deal to the overall presentation and his set was well received by the packed house.

Kathy and I brought along our friends Gae and Janine, Janine visiting from her home in Madison, Wisconsin. We had great seats up in the fourth row, though there really are not any bad seats in the intimate venue. The crowd of mostly local fans, who like us had followed the career growth of the band was primed and ready and the Revivalists delivered a masterful set.



At the Parrot

Lead singer David Shaw was all over the place, often venturing out in to the adoring crowd and the entire band seemed to be in prime form, seemingly happy to return to a place that has supported them so well since the beginning. Key West fans love the band so much that a huge contingent of Key Westers traveled to see the band play at Red Rocks in Denver during their last tour.

This is a band that you really need to see live as their energetic live performances are legendary and the music is much better live than on the radio etc. We had an absolutely fun night at the show and the band seemed to as well. In fact post-show, most of them showed up at the Green Parrot to play with the Honey Island Swamp Band, who seem to be following a similar path. Shaw and company joined the fun on stage performing a wickedly good Tom Petty cover and seemingly having a ball revisiting their roots by playing at the Parrot.

Scott and Kristyn



Martina and Spike

There were some other fun moments this week as well, including a nice happy hour at the home of our friends Martina and Jen, who welcomed Martina’s mother and her friend to town from the Czech Republic. I also joined my friends Scott and Kristyn at White Street Pier where they were celebrating International Pillow Fight Day. Scott is the organizer of the monthly full moon beach party at Higgs Beach and was trying to get a celebration of pillow fight day going as well. There always seems to be something fun happening here.

https://www.therevivalists.com/