Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Christian Lopez vividly remembers seeing Excision, an electronic music producer known for his bass-heavy hits, at the CNY Regional Market’s F Shed in 2014. Ravers filled the space as the Canadian DJ spun tracks for three hours.

“When Excision came on, after all the other main artists, everyone was looking around the room,” Lopez said. “We were all thinking, ‘Holy crap, we’re gonna die from so much bass.’”

This exact show was a night Lopez won’t forget. The show was promoted as releasing “an earth-shattering 150,000 watts of PK sound.” Yet while the energy inside the venue was electric, the beats led to hundreds of house-shaking noise complaints to Onondaga County 911.

That was over 10 years ago. Today, F Shed is a vacant space in northern Syracuse, only open on weekends to house the market and occasionally available as a rental venue for private events. But the market’s newly appointed CEO, Bill Fisher, hopes to bring back the beloved concert venue by mid-April, complete with renovations to improve noise mitigation.

From 2013-17, F Shed hosted a variety of performances across multiple genres, like heavy metal, country and EDM. American rock band O.A.R., country singer Tyler Farr and EDM DJs like Skrillex and Hardwell — both of whose shows were sold out — all took the stage at F Shed.

The venue was also a haven for ravers and rockers in the Syracuse community and beyond.

Classic rave culture thrived. EDM fans traded Kandi bracelets, and F Shed supporters spread PLUR — peace, love, unity and respect. Aside from bringing in DJ legends, F Shed’s piercing lasers, smoke machines and glow sticks all cemented the space as an EDM playground.

“It was like walking into a room full of like family that I had never met before,” Lopez said. “It was just awesome. The community was so welcoming.”

Lopez frequently traveled with family and friends to F Shed from Binghamton. He’s watched Excision three times, along with Skrillex, and attended Safe In Sound, an EDM festival that brought in a string of dubstep DJs. The genre inspired him to become a DJ himself.

The venue was set to reopen on Feb. 22 after an eight-year hiatus, but after Fisher spoke with State Assembly member William Magnarelli and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh about reviving the space, he realized major soundproofing efforts were necessary. The venue’s closure in 2017 was due to a litany of noise complaints from surrounding neighborhoods.

Lily Zuckerman | Design Editor

We Are One X-perience, a music group that pays homage to R&B legend Frankie Beverly, was slated to headline F Shed’s comeback performance.

“When the concert promoter came to us, we reached out to the city of Syracuse, and they were generally supportive, but they wanted to make sure that we were listening to feedback,” Fisher said.

The market ran out of time to resolve some of the concerns about the venue’s inability to contain the sound before the original reopening date. The concert promoter, Kilo Thompson, wanted to know if these issues would be resolved before the show. The show eventually moved to April 27 at The Palace Theater. There are currently no upcoming shows scheduled at F Shed.

The noise problem stems from F Shed’s tension fabric roof, which allows sound to easily escape. But the market has recently been in contact with Legacy Building Solutions, the company that designed and built the venue in 2013. The construction firm recommended hiring acoustic engineers to reduce the amount of noise that leaks from the roof.

Barbara VanDusen, who lives down the street from the market, recalled calling 911 with her own noise complaint during an F Shed concert years ago. Aside from her windows rattling from the venue’s reverberated bass, her biggest issue was that she was unaware a concert was even happening in the first place.

“If I know there’s a concert, then I won’t call the police,” VanDusen said. “The problem was, it really sounded as if the neighbors were doing something.”

In his previous role as deputy county executive for Onondaga County government, Fisher was part of the team that helped develop the Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview, formerly known as the Lakeview Amphitheater.

Initially, some residents raised concerns about the amphitheater. But because the venue was designed with effective acoustic controls, noise complaints were significantly lower than those reported for F Shed, Fisher said.

This showed Fisher that a successful, enjoyable concert venue is possible with proper planning and community engagement.

One standout of F Shed is its lack of chair seating, which makes it ideal for concerts where audiences prefer standing and dancing along to the music. Fisher said he’s been told that between F Shed and Buffalo, there isn’t another venue of this size that can accommodate up to 2,500 standing guests, adding real value to the region’s live music scene.

Without F Shed hosting shows, the lack of concert options and big-name DJs has been a frequent topic of discussion among Lopez and his tight-knit rave group. Now, they have to travel to places like Rochester, Buffalo and Detroit to catch a set.

“If we can satisfy that market need and people can come to our F Shed and say, ‘What other things are happening here? Are there not just the morning markets, but are there evening markets? Are there other types of entertainment events?’” Fisher said. “That’s the kind of ancillary benefits of having this type of event that other people that were looking for events would realize, ‘Hey, it’s a really convenient location.’”

Lopez gets goosebumps at the idea of F Shed’s return. Since booking his first gig in 2015, the DJ has acquired a better computer and improved his sound application. He’s ready to ignite the crowd, just as Excision did for him 11 years ago.

“The F Shed was the first place that I ever went to for a rave,” Lopez said. “To be able to perform there would be absolutely breathtaking. I wouldn’t be able to believe that it’s a moment.”

Published on March 20, 2025 at 1:49 am
hroy02@syr.edu