Swingin' at The Derby NO MORE!

[PrettyBigGuy]

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. The Derby, in LA, has "re-decorated" their large backroom into a lounge, complete with cocktail tables and sofas. This room has for years been used for swing dance lessons and, while the bands wailed on the stage in the main room, housed the majority of the dancers on any given night.
Located in the Los Feliz area of LA, The Derby, has for years been the very center of the LA swing dancing scene. For those of you unfamliar with the joint, it was the club featured near the end of the 1996 Miramax film Swingers . I was fortunate enough to have lived in that area for a few years and I spent many a night cutting a rug to some of the best swing bands in the country.
Now to be fair, The Derby still has swing bands come in once or twice a week, and there is still the postage stamp size dance floor in front of the main stage, but to me, it's just not the same without the backroom. I'm certainly going to miss the place, because now it doesn't seem worth the drive up from Long Beach anymore. It's a hard good-bye the te club where I not only learned to jitterbug, but also the place where I met my bride-to-be!

 

[MK]

That's a bummer.

 

[Renderking Fisk]

Yep... someone needs to take a beating for that. Sometimes change is good while other times its not.

Do you think they'll lose more they just your buisness because of the change?

 

[PrettyBigGuy]

Originally posted by Renderking Fisk
Do you think they'll lose more they just your buisness because of the change?

Oh, I'm sure they will lose more business, but they will benefit from it more then suffer from it. You see, swing dancers ARE NOT profitable to clubs. Most clubs that have live music make all their money from the bar while all of the door money (cover charge) goes to the band. This is usually not a problem because at a regular club people sit and drink while listening to the music. Swing dancing is so exhausting that the only thing the dancers want to drink is water. Bars can't stay open giving away water though! When I first started going to The Derby back in the late 90's, they used to keep a big pitcher of ice water and paper cups on the backroom's bar. Within a few months though, I noticed that the pitcher was replaced with little 8 ounce bottles of water that were for sale for $2 a piece.
That was fine with me though. I made it a point to buy @ least two cocktails whenever I was there and I'd buy a bottle of water or two as needed throughout the night. I guess not enough people did this though and The Derby was forced to reduce the # of "Swing Nights" per week. Nowadays they have DJs and rock bands playing 6 nights a week. Like any other craze
I guess people just moved on to other things. I read recently that the swing revival of the 1990s lasted longer than the original era back in the 1940s, so I suppose we have been fortunate.

 

[Renderking Fisk]

Somethings should never die out, though.

(Although, I hope to never see the 60's trends return.)

 

[jamespowers]

The 60s or the 70s trends. If I ever see a Pet Rock again I am going to need a psychiatrist. LOL Keep both dead and burried---covered with cement and rebar.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Morons...

The ones that run the place have been trying to take the swing out of it for the last 5 years.

They don't seem to understand that that place is a magnet for dancers around the world. They're fools.

When you think of Derby you think swing, not Hustle.

The last few times i have been there you can tell they are cutting themselves off at the knees.

They occasionally have the good bands come in, but without the back room there is nearly no room to dance.

 

[MK]

The only way I can see it worth changing it would worth it would be if they made it back to a Brown Derby again.

 

[The Bingstress]

I agree that the Derby was a wonderful place to dance in L.A., and it's sad to see the back room converted into a cocktail lounge. In the owners' defense, though, Big Guy made a good point about the financial challenges of catering to dancers. The same issues cropped up on the heels of the swing revival nationwide. New York had swing every weekend at the beautiful 1930s-style Supper Club on 46th street, and the house was always packed. But since dancers don't drink hard liquor, after a couple of years the owners cancelled the swing nights and replaced them with a dinner-and-floor show bill catering to tourists. Likewise, I heard there was a real happenin' place in Chi-town called The Olive, which suffered a similar fate.

Another issue with the Derby is that the owner, Tammy Gower, passed away last year from cancer. She was the life-blood of that venue, and running the place was truly her passion. I know that her husband, Tony, wants to keep the Derby going, but it's gotta be hard without his better half. And in a town like L.A. where venues fall in and out of favor on a weekly basis, it's truly a testament to the Derby's heritage and the dedication of its owners that the place has lasted so long. If I had a fedora, I'd tip my hat to the folks out West for helping to keep the Golden Era alive just a little bit longer.

Hugs & blessings,
The Bingstress