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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1997)
The infectious Indigo Swing furthers musical resurgence By Shannon Sneed Entertainment Reporter Listen up, hep cats: It’s hot jazz with a cool sound, and it’s storm ing its way through the hippest clubs and dance halls in the country. That’s right: swing mu sic has resurged in the American music scene with a vengeance, being hailed as the Next Big Thing and the latest remedy for alternarock’s ailments — and Eu gene is about to get a big dose. San Francisco band Indigo Swing will be bopping into town and performing at the Wild Duck Music Hall, 169 W. 6th Ave., on Nov. 24. Opening acts are two lo cal bands, The Skandals and Boo gie Chillen', both of whom have made marks on the Eugene music scene. With their inventive, infectious and danceable tunes, Indigo Swing has generated a buzz in the Bay Area and nationwide as the leaders of the West Coast swing revival. The six guys, who play instruments ranging from saxo phone to piano, display enor mous musical talent and are well known for their enthusiastic per formances. “They’re really serious about [swing],” said Jonathan Zwickel, national music coordinator for the EMU Cultural Forum, which is sponsoring the event. “For them, it’s less about the presenta Lead singer Johnny Boyd COURTESY PHOTO s serious about swing.' His band is touring for their self-titled album. tion and more about the music.” Indigo Swing has been touring extensively in promotion of its 14-song self-titled album, the band’s second recording since its formation in 1992. The album won rave reviews all over the country after its June release, be ing named a “CD Pick of the Month” in Details magazine and called “inventive and seductive" by Seattle Weekly. As to swing’s sudden re-entry into the music spotlight, the band said they're not all that sur prised. “People are looking for some thing different, so a lot of the kids who had gotten tired of punk and grunge started looking in this di rection,” lead singer Johnny Boyd said in an interview. "The same kids that used to punk out and pierce everything are the ones coming to see us now.” First to take the stage at the Wild Duck will be The Skandals, a new band of recent high school graduates who have been making waves and successfully attracting a boisterous following of slick, swingin’ scenesters to their Eu gene performances. When they formed at the begin ning of the summer, The Skan dals were primarily a ska band. Recently, however, they decided to rename themselves The Lucky Seven and make the jump to pure swing. Also performing are Boogie Chillen’, a jump-blues band that hails from New York but has been gigging incessantly in Eugene for quite awhile. Weekly perfor mances at Rascal’s, coupled with the recent release of a new CD ti tled “Chillen' of a Lesser God,” have garnered them a large, de voted local following. “They convey a real stage pres ence,” Zwickel said. “Out of all the local bands here, I think they’ve got an enormous amount of potential.” The show will start at 8 p.m., and all ages are welcome. A swing lesson is included in the price of a ticket and will be of fered from 7 to 8 p.m. for those who are a little rusty on their dips and twirls. The lesson will be taught by Brandon Sackett, a member of the Oregon Ballroom Dance Club. Price of admission is $8 for University students, $9 for the general public and $10 on the day of the show. Tickets are available through the EMU Tick et Office, CD World, Record Gar den, Face the Music and House of Records. So pour yourself a martini and get dolled-up, dapper and ready to dance because this show promises to swing you right off your feet. Daddies: Local attitude toward band, swing has changed ■ Continued from Page 7A name was a reference to fathers ^ having sex with their chi 1 W dren,” said Bob Fennessy, A publicist for WOW Hall. “The |W name actually comes from the W lingo of swing music. The idea * of calling someone a daddy [is a term of endearment] — like what a girl would call her boyfriend.’’ The local attitude toward the Dad dies has come a long way since the era when protesters would tear down concert advertisements and newspapers ran their name in ab breviations such as "The C.P. Daddies” to avoid offend ing readers. “The Daddies are not at all controversial now compared to when they first came out,” Fen nessy said. This increased tolerance may stem from the renewed popular interest in swing music, facilitated in part by retro groups such as Squirrel Nut Zippers and Royal Crown Re vue. The Daddies, however, have always shunned being labeled a retro band. "They used to be mostly swing, but now they’re including more punk, some ska and some reggae stuff too,” said sophomore Saki Kamimura, a Daddies fan and an internation al business major. Another trademark of Daddies’ songs is their abrasive, short-story form lyrics juxta posed against a backdrop of peppy melodies. “They take material that might be appro priate for a punk song and then put it to swing music,” Fennessy said. “It's happy music about unhappy situations.” The Daddies embrace such a wide variety of musical flavors that it is hard to determine what kind of person represents the typical Daddies fan. “When they started out, a more mature au dience came to see them,” Fennessy said. “But of course, they’ve al ways been popular with young people. Something that every young person in Eugene looks for ward to is their first Dad dies concert.” Freshman psychology major Misty Eiccholz appreciates the band’s diverse fan base. “I think one of the reasons ^ they’re so unique is that they | draw big crowds of all ages, I from people as old as 60 to people as { young as 12,” Eiccholz said. Ticket prices are $8 in advance and $9 at the door. Tickets are available at CD World, EMU Main Desk, Green Noise, House of Records, La Tiendita & Taco Loco, Record Exchange and WOW Hall. .Design for KLIVING Mcv. 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