The Swayzees

 

October 29, 2021

The Swayzees

The Key West music scene is seemingly in constant flux, but there are a few bands that have survived and thrived in what is traditionally a pretty tough place to break out of. One of these bands is The Swayzees (formerly Patrick & the Swayzees before Patrick moved on). The high energy funky band is one of the most energetic and popular Key West bands and have been starring during Fantasy Fest week for the past few years as a popular band to have at events and parties as well as even appearing in the parade a number of times.

This year they had two big gigs during the week and I caught their show at the Pool Party at the Marker Resort which was played to a packed house, right in front of the Marker’s two swimming pools on the poolside stage they have set up there.

From surf rock to doo wop, rockabilly to beach music, The Swayzees have created a current, yet still wholly nostalgic blend of early rock ‘n’ roll sounds that bring crowds to their feet from opening to encore. Their sets include original songs and instrumentals as well as a mix of well-known, crowd favorite cover tunes, so there’s something for everyone.

Les Greene, the lead singer of the Swayzees was a finalist on the “American Idol” show in 2018 and  is known for his high energy. He jumps off stage, leaps in the air and dances with the crowd while singing his heart out on songs such as “C’mon Everybody,” “Runaround Sue” and “I Got a Woman.” This show was no different as he had the crowd at the marker in the palm of his hand from the outset and danced, jumped, twisted and even leaped into the pool at one point, all while maintaining the tune and delivering great vocals along with the theatrics.

Another long-time and very popular Key West based band was out playing a lot during Fantasy Fest including scoring the gig to play at one of the traditionally most popular and longest running annual Fantasy Fest event, the Toga Party at Sloppy Joe’s bar. The Prime Movers, who incidentally played at Kathy & my wedding back in 2003 are still going strong and played for the packed house that is the Toga Party.

One of the original mainstays of Fantasy Fest week, this year was the 41^st annual Toga Party which is held each year on the Thursday night of Fantasy fest and still draws a huge crowd of toga-clad revelers out to join the thousands already out and about on Duval Street. Seeing my friends Brian Roberts and Rob DiStaci still leading the Prime Movers is pretty cool as well. They played at Virgilio’s later in the week and it is always cool to see the positive reaction they get from the many out of town visitors who might not have seen them play before.

I was back at another popular pool party when I returned to Dante’s annual “Halos and Horns” pool party. This party seems relatively new to me, especially when compared to the Toga Party, but this year marked the 15^th annual crazy and popular pool party. It has not been one of my favorites and I never get in the pool, which is always crowded with hundreds of people (who seem to constantly have a drink in their hand yet rarely get out to go to the restroom). 

I do go and take photos for the Fantasy Fest folks every year and I have to admit that I usually run into a few friends and that everyone seems to be having a very good time. This is one of those events where it is hard to get photos that can actually be used in Fantasy Fest promotion as clothing is seemingly very optional.

I also spent a few hours just prowling Duval Street which was closed down every night this week, there are always interesting things happening and great people watching during Fantasy Fest week. Costumed partiers fill the streets, especially on the corner of Duval and Greene Streets. Some of my creative friends, led by Christine Fifer created their own little mini-Fantasy Fest parade as they had a group of people in costume riding their decorated bikes and persons down Duval. 

https://www.brianrobertsmusic.com/bio

https://www.theswayzees.com/