I'm going to talk a bit about live music in Melbourne generally, as well as festivals, because I think it's worth emphasising the difference between American and Australian (or Melbournian) live jazz scenes.
I'm also going to emphasise dancing + live jazz. Take it as given that I'm as happy to sit and listen as dance.
I'm in Melbourne (where Brian's at) and have had mixed experiences with 'non-dancing' crowds at local jazz gigs. On the whole, the older jazz fans have really dug we younger dancers getting out there and having fun. I tend to run into these older fans all over the place - they follow good bands around.
And I have difficulty dismissing them just as 'older jazz fans' - sure, they're in their 60s and 70s, but they're far more relaxed and prepared to have fun than most younger lindy hoppers in our scene. Lindy hoppers here can be a bit like teenagers - a bit too worried about whether they're looking cool, a bit too afraid of embarassing themselves, and a bit too sulky if the music isn't exactly to their taste.
The older jazz fans, however, are always up for some fun. They're the ladies who grab me when I'm handing out flyers at a gig (especially in the parks or at the zoo), start conversations at the bar and make blue jokes. They're a lot less precious than some dancers.
Though, again, they're a mixed group - some of the older jazz nicks round town are big drinking, rough-housing types. Some are fussy nannas. Though the ones I really like are easy going, looking-for-fun nannas and poppas out on the town and looking for fun.
Jazz festivals here can be really varied. The ones run by the jazz social clubs (like the
Vic Jazz Club) in Melbourne tend to be held out in the sticks, so they're not going to attract the inner city types (like me - who has no car). The style (and quality) of music can be really mixed as well - much as you've described in earlier posts. I've heard some really lame arse 'trad jazz' that makes me cringe. But I've also heard some phenomenal music that makes me want to dance like a fool.
On the other hand, the jazz festivals sponsored by local jazz club venues (like
Bennett's Lane) tend to be centered on inner city clubs which don't have dance floors and do
not tolerate dancing... heck, they make you turn off your phone and won't let you
talk during gigs at Bennett's Lane. This sort of jazz tends towards the post-swing, 'free' or arty-farty jazz. And is mostly undanceable.
There's actually a bit of money around for running festivals in Melbourne - the Melbourne City Council has an active arts funding program, and the local councils also fund lots of live music festivals. In 2005 the
MLX coincided with the Johnston Street festival - a Spanish festival with lots of food, music and dancing. The inner city councils tend to favour other types of music beyond jazz, or to present a more mixed musical program (the Sydney Road Festival run by the Moreland council is an example - they close off the main street and have live music in all the pubs and bars and council venues up and down the street. It's excellent fun). There are also really big music festivals (like the
St Kilda Festival) which feature young people music in a big way.
Jazz simply isn't popular enough to attract a lot of council funding, though.
I've also noticed a preponderance of trad jazz (ie the sort of 'pre-swing era' stuff) and 'arty farty' jazz
generally in Melbourne. I love that olden days action, but there's not actually a whole lot of solidly swinging jazz that would appeal to lindy hoppers who aren't keen on trad... Or, I should say, there are more trad bands than other types. Except jump blues. We got that.
I've never had Trev's experience (knock on wood), but I have been at gigs where the band haven't been exactly happy to have dancers stealing their lime light. I try to touch base with the bandmembers at some point during the breaks to be sure they're cool with us dancing - just in case. And if they're not, I'm not likely to hang around. This hasn't happened very often, though.
I think it's worth noting that in Melbourne alone you can dance every night of the week to a live band - and often have to choose between bands on a few nights. I can think of
at least 20 bands in Melbourne that I can happily dance to. And that's not counting all the bands I haven't seen or don't particularly like. Of that twenty 3 or 4 are solidly swinging, 2 or 3 are jump blues, a couple are 'neo' and the rest are 'trad'.
It's also entirely likely that you'll be the only dancer there at any of these gigs. In a city with a few thousand lindy hoppers and the largest swing scene in Australia.
When we have festivals (and there are at least three jazz social clubs who organise them, then at least a couple of inner city venues who also run bigger festival-type events) we also attract a lot of artists from interstate and overseas. Come winter (the northern hemisphere's summer), many of our bands lose members (or are entirely absent) for the summer 'jazz season' in Europe. Our musicians are freaking good. Just under-patronised by dancers.
I've only been to one Australian jazz fest outside Melbourne - in Sydney - and that was outdoors. It was also in Manly, on the beach, so it totally wins for location. Russell could no doubt tell you more about that gig.
I've unfortunately missed the Devenport Jazz Fest in Tasmania, but Brian could tell you about that.