The Shipyard sways from quiet South Campus venue to vibrant on-campus crowds
Last year, Ilan Rekem and his roommates created The Shipyard on South Campus as an alternative to traditional campus nightlife. Their new venue, an apartment near campus, has hosted two concerts so far this semester. Madison Cox | Contributing Photographer
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UPDATE: This story was updated at 11:40 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.
Last semester, The Shipyard operated out of a South Campus apartment and held a maximum of 30 people, playing exclusively quiet, acoustic songs.
Now, the live music venue is a buzzing off-campus apartment, drawing crowds of nearly 100 attendees. Lively groups of music lovers fill the backyard, holding up phone flashlights while swaying, clapping and dancing to the now-upbeat songs played by performers.
“It was kind of insane,” Ilan Rekem, the founder of The Shipyard, said. “At the first show we had probably 50 or 60 people coming in and out and it was a huge success.”
Rekem, a Syracuse University junior, and two of his roommates on South Campus originally created The Shipyard in fall 2024 as a space for people to get away from the traditional Syracuse party scene. It was meant to be a welcoming venue with a calmer feel than typical campus nightlife.
But these goals pivoted this semester when Rekem and his roommate, Adam Rogers, brought The Shipyard to their off-campus apartment with their now third roommate, Zachary Kosove.
The Shipyard’s founders engage student audiences with live performances and fun games. They have drawn large crowds for their events this semester. Madison Cox | Contributing Photographer
Much closer to Main Campus, their new location has led to higher turnout for their events. South Campus’ location wasn’t ideal for the organizers. Toward the end of the spring semester, as the snow piled high around South Campus, attendance for The Shipyard was at an all-time low, Rekem said.
With a larger crowd, Rekem decided to change music at The Shipyard from quiet, acoustic tunes to a more upbeat and lively sound. Performers play their instruments on a slightly raised patio that functions as their stage while attendees watch from the backyard, which is decorated with colored lights.
The new setup has drawn in more people, Rogers said. Most freshmen don’t know where South Campus is — even he didn’t until he applied for sophomore year housing.
“It’s much more fun and upbeat, which was not really the case last year. Last year was fun, but it was a different kind of fun,” Rekem said.
For their first show on Main Campus, Kieran Romano helped them get set up. A member of music venue Dazed, he offered The Shipyard their equipment on any weekends Dazed wasn’t using it. Rogers also helped set up the equipment before performances. He said his familiarity with sound systems is his “claim to fame.”
Rekem said musicians actively seek him out to perform at The Shipyard, mainly over Instagram. The Shipyard has hosted two shows so far this semester, with three more planned. At their most recent show, SU sophomore Anthony Martinelli, an indie artist, played an original song and took requests.
“The atmosphere was really cool,” Martinelli said. “I loved the vibe that they had going on.”
He had a couple of friends in the audience who were cheering him on. Martinelli said the space was welcoming and enjoyable, a good place for up-and-coming musicians like himself.
Martinelli plays at restaurants and bars in New Jersey, where he’s from. Despite being familiar with playing at venues in front of live audiences, he appreciated that at The Shipyard, it felt like everyone was there for the music and it was something they were all passionate about.
“The audience was really into it,” Martinelli said. “It was very music-centered but still a nice space to hang out and talk.”
The Shipyard provides a space for local musicians to showcase their skills. Musicians often actively seek out the founders, eager to play at the venue. Madison Cox | Contributing Photographer
With the new space and more upbeat feel, Rekem has also included what he calls a “halftime show” in between performances.
The host of the night picks three random people from the crowd. Each person attempts to make a shot into the basketball hoop on the porch. Rekem said he really wanted to include fun, silly games like this but wasn’t sure if people would go along with it. To his pleasant surprise, they loved it.
Rekem said it’s difficult at times to feel the full college experience while not participating in Greek life. While he doesn’t regret his decision not to go through recruitment, he said it did make it more difficult for him to find his friends and community. He hopes The Shipyard helps incoming students find their place.
“Syracuse is this breeding ground for very inauthentic coolness that I think sometimes gets in the way of people truly enjoying themselves,” Rekem said. “I want all the people who think that they’re not cool because they’re themselves to come here and feel cool because they’re themselves.”
Rekem and Rogers also want the space to be a place where people with the same sense of humor can feel seen. Since its shift in location, they’re both happy the venue is getting more attention and that the efforts they make aren’t going unnoticed.
“I’m a TRF (television, radio, film) student, and it almost felt like a script you write or something you direct come to life,” Rekem said. “It’s a wild thing to see something that lives for so long inside of your mind be out in the physical world and live as it was intended to.”
