By Sam Wise.
Avid readers of In Common’s music content might remember two years ago, when we covered the arrival of the Prohibition Party at the Engine Rooms in Southampton. Norwegian jazz impressario and trumpeter Martin Jarl brought his band, Swing’it, to town, but with a much grander vision than just a gig. Prohibition Party was an experience, a show, a way of transporting yourself back into the past.
Punters were encouraged to show up in their best 1920s regalia, and in return were treated to a show that engaged all the senses. In between sets by Swing’It, we were kept on our toes by the host, Champagne Charlie, and drawn into a world of 1920s entertainment including burlesque, dancing girls, and of course, plenty of hot jazz.
The exciting news is that Swing’It and the Prohibition Party are back, and I caught up with Martin to find out what’s new for 2026.
In some ways, it’s more of the same. Champagne Charlie will return as host, MC and ringmaster (the drummer of Swing’It once said to Martin “People might think we’re just a jazz band, but if Champagne Charlie is there, it’s punk too”), as will the Gatsby Girls, who Martin credits as the very best dancers you can get.
He says “Nobody compares to them; they’re not just showgirls, they’re actually improvising live, there’s nothing like it.”
Southampton University Swing Society, who made a splash on the dancefloor last time around, will no doubt be taking notes. Lastly, we have a real luminary from the world of burlesque, Jolie Papillon, the “Queen of Classical Burlesque”, who recently performed at Kim Kardashian’s birthday party. Whatever your opinion of our Kim, that’s certainly a sign of having risen high in the world.
So, the Prohibition Party is back in town and with new and wonderful things, and you can win tickets! By liking, sharing and commenting on this article, you will be entered into a draw which Martin will make on Thursday January 15th, to win 2 tickets to the Prohibition Party on Saturday 17th.
A lot has been happening for the band Swing’It since last I spoke to Martin, and he talked me through a bit of what they’ve been doing.
The first is a new album, of their own original compositions. Martin told me they’re writing to appeal to a pop audience, “We noticed that when they came to Prohibition Party, people loved jazz; they love to dance, get happy, move to the music, but the industry doesn’t push our kind of music.
“So we decided to make it a bit more accessible; traditionally, jazz songs will have an A part and a B part, and lots of solos, and we thought maybe we can echo pop form a bit more. So now we have a clear verse/chorus structure, with a hopefully hooky chorus people can sing, and while we still have solos, there aren’t so many.
“It’s definitely still swing jazz, but done in a way that’s maybe easier to understand”. They’re also incorporating more covers into their live shows, because people love to hear something they recognise.
On the topic of live shows, it’s been a big couple of years. The band are now doing lots of smaller gigs; the Prohibition Party is expensive and complex to organise, so they’re doing club gigs that are just the band performing, which enables them to play much more often. The Prohibition Party is far from dead, however. Martin told me about a big step forward they took during the past year.
“We played 170 shows last year, toured Australia for the first time, went to the Czech Republic, France, Bulgaria, but the biggest thing was a large tour of Germany, which we organised and promoted ourselves. Usually, we are invited by a venue, the promoter puts the gig on, takes the risk, and we get paid an agreed fee. In Germany, however, we felt we had such a good reception that maybe we could do something new, so we ran the whole tour ourselves. We booked 9 venues, and sold all our own tickets. Now, to make that break even (which includes paying ourselves), we needed to sell 6,500 tickets, and in fact, we sold over 7000, so around 800 per show! Just to break even felt like a huge success, because it was a big risk. I don’t think many jazz bands from Norway are selling loads of tickets in Germany, so we’re really happy, and we’re going back in the fall of 2026”.
The Southampton show is unique among the UK tour, in that every other show is at an O2 venue; quite simply Swing’It got such a great reception at The Engine Rooms last time around that they wanted to do it again.
Martin tells me their audience are unusual; the conventional wisdom is that currently people wait until the last minute to buy tickets for shows, but actually their audience buys early. Perhaps this is because going to a Prohibition Party isn’t like a normal gig; you need to plan your outfit, probably you want to go with a group of friends, it requires a bit of planning.
That’s why you should get your tickets for the 17th now; most of them will have already sold. I will certainly be there, and I can’t wait.
For tickets and more information, click here: engineroomssouthampton.co.uk/events/prohibition-party-2
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Review: 1923 Prohibition Party, The Engine Rooms, Southampton