What Happened to the Syracuse Music Scene?

Syracuse had the coolest music scene in the seventies. I remember, because I was there. My high school years. Jamming at the Jabberwocky, Tony Trischka, trucking, sellout War Memorial concerts, "Rock and Roll Hootchie Coo," Loew’s State Theatre, Firebarn fun. Fast forward to 2008. Where’s the music? Check the club listings every week and you see the same old bands listed. Syracuse’s favorite son, Colin Aberdeen; the pop kings Frenay and Lenin; music dignitaries Roosevelt Dean and Bobby Green, and the blues, blues, blues. Is Simple Life Syracuse’s answer to indie rock? How many bands don’t do covers? It surprises me that a larger venue like the Palace, Landmark, or Center for the Performing Arts doesn’t bring in any of the acts that play say in Buffalo, Albany, or even Binghamton. Plenty of room here for Neil Young to stop while on tour. And why don’t the bars get the exciting, eclectic bands that might play in Ithaca? Syracuse is a college town after all. I saw an incredible amount of amazing bands and performers in the seventies. Many of whom are still on tour. In eighth grade I saw Ravi Shankar and John McLaughlin in an electrifying performance on the SU lawn. And the Jabberwocky was still going strong after I left Syracuse in 1976 (not to return until 2004), where I saw the likes of Martin Mull and Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks. (Yes, I was underage, but I had older friends.) My very first concert in 1971 was Black Sabbath at the War Memorial. In 1972 I saw 10 shows at the War Memorial alone, including Frank Zappa and Tim Buckley, John Mayall, and Procol Harum. What about Jeff Beck at the Loew’s State Theatre in 1973 for a whopping $4.50? One of my favorite concerts was B. B. King at the Civic Center, probably around 1973 too. My friend Peggy and I, a couple of 16-year-old white suburban chicks sitting at a show with a mostly older, well-dressed black audience. I remember a woman in the opera box elegantly standing and tossing a single rose to B.B. on stage. B.B. picked up the rose and blew her a kiss. And then recently I heard the Firebarn used to get well-known punk and new wave bands in the late 1970s. I had no idea. I saw Taj Mahal there and the Firebarn had probably exceeded its fire capacity because the floor was shaking and sinking with the weight of the swaying bodies. It was so crowded, I watched the show from the fire escape. People would travel to Syracuse from all over if we had a better music scene. I am sorry but as much as I love many of Syracuse’s music staples, I am tired of them, particularly when they play at every downtown festival, bar, and benefit. I miss the diversity and excitement of the seventies music scene and wonder if I will ever get a chance to experience it again.