From the corner booth....

I had planned on going to both Swing City and the Swing Dance Depot, but I was tired and got a late start so I just went to the one I hadn't gone to before yet; the fact that it was about a 15 minute walk for me clinched it. The Boston Swing Central had the night off.

The Swing Dance Depot is held in the same place as the annual "Taste of Watertown" event; it's interesting how it looks in a different environment. The Love Dogs was up against the Winiker Swing Orchestra at Swing City. I prefer dancing to the Love Dogs and I imagine that it'll come down to which band is playing that will determine if and where I go on a Friday night. The Love Dogs played some music I've never heard them play before, more 50ish covers, but it was good energy and people stayed on the dance floor.

At this event I liked the band break music which is a nice change of pace. A lot of the current generation of swing dj's play a lot of old (as in scratchy recordings) jazz music that doesn't do anything for me because most of that music just doesn't swing and I'd rather just sit down and talk to my friends. At the Swing Depot, they had some guy playing swingable music that I used to hear at dances about 10 years ago and it had a lot more "up" energy than the stuff I've been hearing at local dances. And it wasn't too fast. Unfortunately, this DJ was probably more suited for a radio station because he just wouldn't shut up. But I liked his music choices.

I liked the front lobby area where I could have a conversation with someone at a normal speaking volume. The free coffee and munchies, while appreciated, were probably overdone. The bar? Well, I'm sure some patrons were happy to be able to get a real drink out of the place.

I heard that Swing City had a very good crowd which leads me to believe that it's probably possible to have two Friday night swing venues (but not three).

It would have been an otherwise uneventful night if Swing City flyers hadn't appeared on the cars in the parking lot. I knew it was going to happen but I was hoping that my advice against it was going to be heeded. It was ultimately a wasted effort since there was enough time to send someone out to take the flyers off the car. I was really disappointed that this happened because I made it a point on April 20, 2008 to say that it was wrong to put flyers on the cars at a competing event. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the one responsible for that particular incident issued an apology that was printed on this page two weeks ago. After something like that, everyone knew it was wrong and there was no excuse for this to happen again. I felt this wasted a lot of sympathy and support generated for Swing City two weeks ago.

One interesting point that I have to make. I try to make every Boston Swing Dance Network and Uptown Swing event because they're held only once every month and I strongly support both those venues because I like the venues, the bands, and the promoters are my friends. With multiple Friday night venues, I can afford to take a night off because something else will be happening the next week.

By the way, if you have opinions about the new Friday night venues, I'd love to hear them. I'm interested in what appeals to different people about the different places to go dancing.

See you on the dance floor,

Benson Wong

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