During prohibition, the rich and famous would head out to find 'speakeasies' behind unmarked doors in the basement of restaurants and milk bars. In these hidden locations, illegal alcohol was consumed, gambling took place and occasionally a little dancing broke out. Whilst we glamourise these pop-up bars, the real parties were on the outskirts of towns and were called 'Juke Joints'. Once plantation workers and 'sharecroppers' finished work in the field for the day, they would head to a ramshackled informal juke joint to let off a little steam after a hard days work. The days were hot in the fields but the dancing at night was hotter! Blues and swing dancing wasn't born in the ritzy end of town, it was born in the small clubs and juke joints in America's South!

Date: Saturday, February 3rd, 2018

Location: The Baroque Room @ The Carrington Hotel

Doors Open: 8:30 pm

Intro Dance Lesson: 9:00 pm

First Set: 9:30-10:15 pm

Second Set: 10:30-11:15 pm

Tickets: $25 presale or $30 on-the-day (+ online booking fee)

Book online or call Chris on 0411 954 826

Given this fine tradition, 'Music in the Mountains' and 'The Sydney Swing Katz' are bringing a night of incredible music and good old-fashion swing dancing to The Baroque Room on Saturday, February 3rd, at The Carrington Hotel (we were going to find you a ramshackled shed on the edge of town to host a juke joint, however as its the Roaring 20s Festival, we figured you were already in town and were looking for a GREAT cocktail!). There will be an intro swing dance lesson to help you get your feet moving and Queen Porter Stomp will be coming up the Mountain to bring a little prohibition fun your way.

Queen Porter Stomp:

Queen Porter Stomp use their dirty swamp magic to shirk those Prohibition blues – swinging skirts and scuffed shoes for hardwood and concrete dance floors alike. This is jazz where swing is the key you play, Melody is your gypsy mistress, and signature is what you’re trying to avoid committing to paper until you have a shot of bootlegged whisky. They pack horns that scream straight into your soul, squeezed tight into a caravan they’ve taken up and down and through the smoke and mud of the festival circuit (like the Falls Festival, Woodford Folk Festival), supporting the hardened and never weary (like Charles Bradley).

Swagger comes from a rhythm section borne of cut-throat jazz chops and a banjo that can exorcise demons on the wrong side of midnight. Amongst all this well-honed haze comes the clarity and seduction of the ukulele songstress upfront. Shine those shoes and undo that top button – if you’re just tapping those toes, then you’re in the wrong bar. This is Queen Porter’s joint.