OCEANSIDE -- In the stands of the Oceanside Pier Amphitheater on Saturday, toes were tapping.
Down on the floor of the seaside stadium, dozens of dancers were swinging, all to the sounds of big band and swing music at the 11th annual Big Band Bash by the Beach, a fundraiser for nearly 50 nonprofit organizations throughout San Diego County.
Three bands -- all based in Oceanside -- played continuously from noon until 7 p.m. to the delight of an estimated 3,000 fans of the heavily brass-influenced music made popular in the 1940s. Among those fans were two couples whose taste in music transcends their age groups.
Joe Gonzales, 52, a county worker from San Diego, said he was glad he picked up a flier last week that advertised the bash.
"This is an excellent venue for this kind of event," Gonzales said, as he caught his breath after exiting the dance floor with his wife, Donna, whom he dipped at the conclusion of a song by host band Jay Wimmer and the Big Band All-Stars.
"These are top-quality bands they've got here, and they sound really good," he said. "This place has really good acoustics for an outdoor stadium, and when you sit in the stands, you can watch the ocean as you listen to the music. Wow! What a view."
Donna Gonzales, 47, concurred with her husband's assessment of the music quality and the location of the bash, and praised the beachside venue's spaciousness.
"This place is the best, and these bands are the best," she said. "But as a dancer, I love it that there's so much room to dance here."
Another couple, whose taste in music hearkens to the time of their grandparents, enjoyed the big band sounds while contemplating a move to the dance floor.
"I'm ready to go, I'm just waiting for him to ask me to go out on the floor," said 18-year-old Rachel Holtz of Valley Center, among the youngest at the bash. Her boyfriend, Nolan Luckett, 18, also of Valley Center, smiled at Holtz and said he wasn't quite ready to try swing dancing, but that he thoroughly enjoyed the sounds filling the amphitheater.
"We read about this event in the Preview magazine in the paper and thought we'd give it a try," said Luckett, a former high school jazz musician who shares an appreciation for big band music.
"We both like this kind of music," he said. "This is a great place to have this kind of concert. You can hear everything, because they have an excellent sound system and the acoustics here are very good."
Holtz, a musician and student at UC Irvine, said she and Luckett attended a similar concert last weekend in San Diego, but they gave that venue failing marks.
"This concert is much better than that one was -- by far," said Holtz.
"We're both musicians and so we have an idea of what sounds good. We both also have an appreciation for all types of music. We like the big band sound, and these bands are really good," she said.
According to event organizer Tom Morrow, aside from the patrons at Saturday's Big Band Bash at the Beach, those who stand to benefit most from the concert are the dozens of selected organizations throughout the county.
"Jay Wimmer started this program 11 years ago as a fundraiser for foster parents in San Diego County," said Morrow.
"Two years ago, he opened it up to allow nonprofit organizations to sell tickets and he told them they could keep any of the money they raised selling the tickets.
"Judging by the number of people here today -- we pre-sold 1,200 tickets -- and there's more people here this year than there was last year, I think all those organizations are going to do all right," he said.
