Those lyrics are funny and they're much more intelligent. Band leader Siebert says swing musicians, unlike some of their rock'n roll counterparts, really have to know music. I mean, you really had to work at an instrument. You cannot pick up a saxophone and sound good in two months. Swing breaks out regularly at spots like The Great American Music Hall, where 550 San Franciscans show up every month for a week-night swing session.
Beer takes a back seat to martinis and cosmopolitans, stylish drinks of yesteryear.
Across the room proprietors of the Shoeshine Stand try to evoke nostalgia at 5 bucks a shot. And on stage before the band comes on two twenty-somethings teach the crowd the moves of their grandparents. One dance hall in Pasadena reports 600 dancers show up for lessons like this every night. What's new for many of these dancers if the concept of actually holding their partners. Johnny Swing and Cari Elizabeth have been teaching swing for two and a half years.