The average Friday night in St. Petersburg offers a melange of slightly drowsy bars ringing with the intellectual discourse of the young and artistic. Conversation is a constant, but dancing is practically nonexistent.
But not at the Rare Olive, at Central Avenue and Third Street. This place jumps on a Friday night, and the secret lies with a bunch of old guys.
Chameleon is a four-man cover band. Its members are losing their hair. They are sartorially challenged the way a favorite uncle might be. And they don't seem to care. The focus is feel-good music and making girls dance, and they are very good at it.
From about 10:30 to closing, Scott Curts, Tim George, Curtis Weeks and Brandon Sommers are serious rock stars, and the Rare Olive goes from bar to club, packing in the pretty young things.
"We find it hilarious. We're in our 40s, and we'll have kids in their 20s really digging the band," says lead singer Curts. "It's a great feeling that they can appreciate it."
Chameleon hails from Sarasota and plays everything from the Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There to Aerosmith's Walk This Way. If the crowd is too young to recognize the songs, it doesn't seem to matter.
Curts pokes fun at the band's on-stage appeal, "I could be out in public and I'm not approached by women, but sling my guitar and sing and shake and it's all over. I'm Elvis with a bad hairdo. ... Funny enough, the younger generation is digging up older tunes."
The Rare Olive isn't the only place that's caught on to the idea. On the other side of the bay, where house music has a stronger toehold and the dance floors are a little more competitive, the Blue Shark in Ybor City has the under-30 set moving to a live rhythm, too.
The Johnny G. Lyon Band is another four-man ensemble. The group traces its roots to 1974, when guitarist Johnny Lyon met drummer Ray Blade at the University of South Florida. They hesitate to give their ages, admitting only that Lyon, Blade and bassist Ben Jammin are "Eisenhower administration babies." The youngest, singer Tommy Duncan, is 37.
The key to getting the girls on the dance floor is the unabashed pleasure the band takes in its sex appeal. One of the guys' favorite songs is the original Just Call Me Loverboy. They rely on heavy, driving beats that pull the best of hard rock, funk, soul and blues.
"When our band plays, I feel like I'm 17. Younger people make me feel younger," Lyon says. "I will admit I enjoy watching girls dance. I'm lucky to have an extremely sexy guitar."
That perpetual eye on the audience doesn't hurt, either. The band members consider getting people to dance one of their top priorities and work hard to bring a fresh approach to material that's influenced by older sounds. If people aren't dancing, the band considers it a failure.
But what if a girl is just plain shy?
"Be nice," advises Lyon, "and try to act like you're not drunk."
