Cool Creatures : Monsters of Swing caters to zoot-suiters and their molls.

If swing is your thing, then the Third Annual Monsters of Swing at Nicholby’s in Ventura is the place to swing that thing this weekend. This three-day epic Super Bowl of Swing will feature the Blues Jumpers from the East Coast, Lee Press-On & the Nails, Indigo Swing from the Bay Area and Flattop Tom & His Jump Cats from the Southland. They’re guaranteed to put some zip into those zoot suiters.

Swing dancing started in Harlem at the Savoy Theatre in the late ‘20s, growing out of ragtime and the Charleston. A further refinement, the Lindy Hop, was named after Charles A. Lindbergh. A few years later, in the mid-’30s as Benny Goodman began to gain popularity, swing dancing was introduced to the white population. Although it never really went away, swing is the thing these days.

The swing thing is especially big in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Lee Press-On & the Nails seem to be at the epicenter of the NorCal phenomenon.

“The Big Swing Movement came as a surprise to us,” said Press-On during a recent phoner. “We didn’t expect it when we started three years ago. At the time, we just wanted to make music old people could enjoy. Then this swing thing just sort of sprouted up around us. In the Bay Area, it’s the best.”

Once geezer rock, something your parents liked, swing has cut across all age barriers.

“When rock ‘n’ roll came along, swing and lounge music got sort of pushed back--it was your parents’ music--but now people have rediscovered how cool that stuff was,” Press-On said. “Really, the only new music now is grunge and techno, and there’s not a lot of growth in those areas. So, I think, kids started going through the attic to find something new, and now they’re taking a step forward by taking a step backward.”

Much like the bikers that took over the venue last week, swing dancers also have a uniform of sorts. The swingers look like they fell out of a ‘40s gangster movie.

Besides being dressed to the nines, swing dancers look cool. While Deadheads may dance, too, they spend less on clothes and many of them don’t care if they have a partner.

“It’s a matter of opinion, but compared to Deadheads, swing dancing ordinarily requires more planning,” said Press-On.

Rewarded for their efforts, Lee Press-On & the Nails received a Bay Area Music Award and got to hang out with famous rock stars at the recent March 7 ceremony. Did all the hoopla change them?

“Now we can say 1998 Bammie Award winner before our name, plus, we got to play the cool Bammie show where Gwen Stefani totally ignored us. We were on the stage with No Doubt, Third Eye Blind and Smash Mouth and she wouldn’t even look at us. I guess that’s because we were the only unsigned band.”

That could be rectified shortly. The band’s debut CD is a complete rager recorded live at a bar in the Bay Area. Any band that can do traditional swing tunes from the ‘30s, then music from vintage Warner Bros. cartoons, and then a Van Halen song, can’t be all bad. In any case, his watch stopped in 1935.

“We’re a traditional big band--there’s 13 of us,” he said. “We play the old songs in the traditional style, but our stage show is kind of dark. In the ‘30s, only the tamest stuff made it to records, and there was a lot wilder stuff going on.”

While Press-On struggles to decide what year it is, dancers or just plain gawkers may want to consider the sheer number of events scheduled for the weekend. There are any number of dance contests with more than $2,000 in cash and prizes. Dance lessons will be held each afternoon for beginners on up to those who know a lift from a drop. There are varying prices depending upon just how much television one plans to miss. Owner Nick Taylor already knows how this thing is going to end up.

“This is going to be so great.”

BE THERE

Monsters of Swing Weekend at Nicholby’s, 404 E. Main St. in Ventura. Blues Jumpers, Friday, 9 p.m., $20. Lee Press-On & the Nails and Flattop Tom & His Jump Cats, Saturday, 9 p.m., $25. Indigo Swing, Sunday night, 9 p.m., $20. (805) 643-3166 or (805) 653-2320.