ROCKY FOUNDATION The rise and fall of off-campus music venues at Syracuse University and why it's so important.
words by Vivian Whitney | photos by Katie Reahl
T
he soft purple glow of the lights. The pounding bass rattling through your body, shaking from the ground up through your feet and thudding softly in your chest. The muffled vocals blasting through the speakers, drowned out by the blaring guitar and drums. If you’ve found yourself in an off-campus music venue in the University Neighborhood, you know the feeling. If you’re a regular, maybe you can name them all — Space Camp, Scarier Dome, Big Red, Treehouse, The End, The Ark, The
Hot Box, The Deli… Or maybe you’ve just found yourself watching a random band after stumbling upon a house at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night, lured in by the guitar riffs drifting out of the basement windows and across the dewy lawn. No matter which house venue it is, each one contributes to the complicated, experimental, grimy DIY music scene in the neighborhood. Despite their fluidity and often short life spans, offcampus music venues play a vital role in creating and maintaining the deeply appreciated music