As per the request of one of the DanceNet readers, here are copies of the past ramblings of the DanceNet Webmaster.
I naturally poked around their website and noticed a page for Boston. Could I help not looking at that page? Of course not! What I noticed was a listing of a few Boston venues that looked curiously like the ones on this website: Johnny D's, Longfellow, Ken's, Lake Pearl (?!?!?), etc. I checked my Boston listings and noticed that they were copied, word-for-word, off my website. I can't imagine why they couldn't have at least hidden their tracks by changing the words around.
I just thought it was funny that they asked for a link to their site and just brought attention to the fact that they copied the information from DanceNet. What's even funnier is the fact that they were already listed on my California page.
It's interesting that this website gets visitors regularly from certain states. Readers come in regularly each week from Washington, New York, California, Illinois, Colorado, Florida, and Texas. What's surprising is the number of people from Maryland (which covers DC and parts of Virginia). I would think that there would be plenty of other websites that cover that area (including another website that I had caught copying an entire page off this website. :-P )
Considering that Roger and Claire had closed the doors at 9 because of the sold out attendance, there wasn't that much space to dance. Why? Because people were standing around in the dance area. Some people were standing 10 feet into the dance floor and forced dancers to dodge them. One young lady got rammed by five people walking by and she still didn't move from her spot.
How to tell if you should move off the dance floor? Well, the out-of-bounds lines on the basketball court at the IC is a good indication. Even better, though, if you're standing around looking into the middle of the dance floor (dance jams excluded) and there are people dancing behind you, then you probably need to move off the dance floor.
I saw the Swing Doctors for the first time at the 360 Cinetropolis Lounge at Foxwoods this week. While the individual band members were clearly talented, I was disappointed that this band didn't click as a dance band. Were they playing "for themselves"? Perhaps. The lead singer had a great voice but there was no energy coming from him; he's no Johnny Boyd. The musical selections all had a Dixieland feel to most of the tunes and some classic covers were too fast for dancers. To give the proper perspective, Indigo Swing (with Johnny Boyd) playing air guitar in front of their mikes would inspire me to dance; the Swing Doctors don't.
There was one interesting moment in the second set. I didn't know if it was staged or spontaneous. The sax player stopped the music in the middle of "Sunny Side of the Street". He took over the mike, told the band to play on a higher key and started singing with some "feeling". It started to feel like dance music. The lead singer seemed to "get it" and also cut in on the music with the same sort of spirit and I was starting to have some hope. The rest of the evening was more of the same; at some points, it felt like the band was dragging the singer along with the music. The band's dixieland jazz tendencies need to be suppressed for the swing dancers. Classic swing tunes like "Take the A Train" had energy but should not be played in dixieland jazz mode.
I give them two stars for talent, but no more for swing content. And that means, I can't recommend them for a swing dance.
They're also playing at Foxwoods on February 27.
And on that note, the 360 Cinetropolis Lounge is a good destination for people who want to dance on Sundays. The entire Foxwoods Casino and Resort is a complete *entertainment* complex with restaurants, arcades, theaters, and, of course, gambling. If you go down there and the music isn't inspiring, there are other places to hang out so the trip wouldn't be wasted. Kids were running loose in the complex, though they weren't allowed in the Lounge or the gambling areas. FYI: The dance floor was slippery. Parking in the Cedars hotel garage is best for dancing, but it can be very frustrating; I drove around in there for a long time looking for a parking spot.
One thing to note: I was watching the entrance to the Lounge and noticed that the people who were more appropriately dressed were less likely to get carded. People with jeans and t-shirts were more likely to get stopped at the entrance than people who dressed up (guys in collared shirts, women in dresses, etc...). My friend who went down there with me looked younger (but much better dressed) than many of the people who got carded, but they didn't even blink at her.