Syracuse Ska Forum

Come this fall, we'll be looking to do some bigger shows and the most obvious place to hold them is Club Tundra (officially, they're called Tundra Tavern these days). Some of you saw RazSum, The Verbs and 3 out of town bands there recently.

Just wondering if the open bar at all ages shows is causing parents to keep kids away from shows there? We really have trouble gauging how big an issue that really is.

How do the rest of you feel about shows there? It seems the most obvious venue left for bands like The Slackers, The Toasters, major tours, etc. Or does someone know a better place?

Your feedback is much appreciated in advance!!

I actually don't like that venue at all. The best instance of it being bad for ska shows was Reel Big Fish. Now I'm not talking about Aaron's meltdown, I'm talking about the floor being way to small for the capacity of the venue.

It was fine until RBF started because everyone tried to get on the lower level, and it was so packed it was nearly impossible to open a circle, and when one was opened it was closed quickly. The entire floor ended up turning into a pushing match.

I think Tundra Tavern isn't a good venue for ska shows because there isn't enough room on the floor to open a good circle, especially since at bigger shows less people tend to dance, and are a lot more possessive of their space.

I'd rather see a show like Ska is Dead at Castaways.

i'm all for shows at castaways cause that would be less travel time for me. i think RBF in general draws a crowd that results in pushing matches more so than the slackers or the toasters would. it's just a different target audience.

i agree though that i'm not really a fan of tundra. the duel level thing seems cool at first, but it's true that the floor is too small for the capacity. i've only been there once and that was for the RBF show, but the only way i see Tundra being a cool place to see a show is if it's way undersold and that's no good from a promoting perspective.

Whatever happened to Salt City? I know that it was kind of small too, but nothing's happened there in a while. Just wondering why the venue has kind of dropped off. I kind of liked that place for some odd reason.

It was a cool space, in many ways. I think the non-profit nature of the place helped a lot, honestly. But it was closed down by the City of Syracuse for multiple code violations and they were also shut off by NiMo for a huge past due balance. Its boarded up now and its likely to stay that way. Its far more likely the city would tear it down than find a new tenant for it.

Anyways, to answer the other comments here, yeah, I know the floor layout of Tundra is problematic. But we don't have another place like it right now with that kind of capacity. I'm also not offering to do RBF there, so hopefully it wouldn't be as crowded anyway.

Also, I love Castaways too, but thats not a Syracuse venue. Thats another market and its not practical for most kids from Syracuse to run down there for shows. I realize its very convenient for both of you, but not for most.

I'm really looking for alternate suggestions for Syracuse ...

Actually 80% of the time I'm in Rochester, so Syracuse is actually a shorter drive. Castaways is just a badass venue.

As for the target audience of shows, I know how much of a pain RBF crowds can be, but I think if you bring a bigger ska show to Tundra you will have that problem regardless of the band.

Not really Karen. What Danny said was the Toasters or The Slackers. First of all I don't think they'd draw as large of a crowd, and second of all, I don't think they'll draw the SAME crowd as RBF. RBF draws a lot of kids that aren't really "ska" kids per se. Kids that heard them on the radio years ago and just stayed into them. They tend to be more obnoxious and ruin shows for other people. I don't see the slackers or toasters (or most other bands truthfully) drawing crowds like that. It's mostly the bigger bands like if the Bosstones were still touring, or if LTJ decided to play 'Cuse.

try the furnace near the fairgrounds. Matt dunn books numerous hardcore and punk shows their all the time. Also the mezzanoite cafe possibly?

i havent been to Tundra in about 4 years, so i dunno if it has changed much. i think we should definitely do some shows there. a small dance floor just means that you just to dance closer to the hot chick next to you. whats wrong with that? i wouldnt think that the open bar would discourage parents from letting their children attend shows there, but since i havent been there in years, i cant judge it. MAYBE, we could offer the dad's a deal. they drop their kids off at tundra, and they get a free lap dance next door? but seriously, im all for shows at tundra!

best post ever

Salt City was so badass, and i like the furnace a lot, is there a reason that there's never any ska shows there? it seems perfect, theres a huge floor to dance and free arcade games

Reason there arn't ska shows at _____ in Syracuse: $$$$$$$$$$$$$

As usual, Johanna cuts to the core of an issue ...

The bigger the venue, generally the higher the cost. I've priced doing shows at The Furnace and it'll be more than doing them at Tundra, and frankly, Tundra is much more centrally located and better known. But using Tundra isn't cheap either, so its going to work much better for bigger shows than smaller ones.

Brian, you find a dad willing to admit to his kids he wants to patronize the strip club next door and we'll pursue that option.

Now that you mention it, I wonder how parents of young kids feel about the proximity of that place???

Anyway, does anyone know of a large coffeehouse we can use somewhere??????

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FOR STRIP CLUBS!

Lazy Wrote: Anyway, does anyone know of a large coffeehouse we can use somewhere??????



you guys try freedom of expresso in fayetteville, i don't know if they do music or not, but you can try there. They have a decent amount of space.

RIP Salt City. Damn, I loved that place so freakin' much. The first community theater I acted at, Jesus Chris Superstar, my first ska show with The Toasters and 2 1/2 White Guys, all the great friends I made there, playing guitar on the stage between shows, freezing during the winter and complaining all the time but loving it all the same.

::sighs:: Honestly, even if the place was falling aparty, I loved it. I loved it so much.

Bleh. Now I've gone and made myself sad..