T
ool & D
ie page 29
Tool & Die
page 29
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people are glad to have the venue back
that's been serving the area for thirty-
five years. The venue itself has always
been true to music. Scenes change, bands
change, personnel and people change, but
the place has always been a host to local
music. In the last year we've had Testa-
ment, Soilent Green, Candlebox, Tantric,
and Attack Attack. It's a promoter friendly
room. So it's nice that all the promot-
ers who throw the larger level shows still
bother to book a smaller room with some
of these acts so that people can get that
up-close and personal feeling you can only
get at The Lost. You know, you're not
stuck behind a wall of security. It's one of
those few places left where you can have
a personal moment with a band when
they're playing up there and you're in the
Pit. They're two feet from you and it's a
very cool situation. We've had some re-
ally great bands.
Tom:
You guys have done a major over-
haul at The Lost Horizon. You've repaint-
ed, and fixed the bathrooms, but one thing
that didn't change was the back room. I'm
really glad for that.
Bryan:
Yeah, it's nice. It adds a little class
to what they call the Green Room, which,
I am sure, was a converted shower or bath-
room in the 70's when it was a disco. It
was The Yellow Balloon before it was The
Lost Horizon and it was Wanda's before
that. It definitely has some
appeal. All the bands have
written on the walls over
and over again. It has that
northern New York CBGB's
feel to it when you walk in-
side. The bathroom renova-
tions and stuff was a list of
things we did when it was
Tundra. We fixed one thing
each week, so when we look
back over the last year, we
fixed fifty-two things. That's
awesome!
Tom:
That back room is like a
living history room. You can
walk in there and find bands
all the way back to 1975 that
have signed the walls. You can
find signatures from Guns &
Roses, and all kinds of others
up there.
Bryan:
Yeah! It's kinda nice!
The Lost Horizon has seen a
lot of coats of paint, but that
room has been spared. It has
been discussed and quickly voted
down many times. Like when it was Tun-
dra, the other owner was there, I don't
think he quite had a sense of the history of
the building. But thankfully, he listened to
reason and with all the renovations he did
there, including the blue sparkle paint you
were so fond of...
Tom:
Everybody hated that...
Bryan:
That was one thing he
didn't mess with. He patched
the parking lot and put in new
bathrooms, and fixed the bar.
He definitely left an imprint
on the place, but it was a little bit
overdue. It's nice now. We have a great
place and as you can see by our schedule,
more and more promoters are using it.
T o m :
You guys are bringing a lot
of the big names like Clutch
and you mentioned Soilent
Green, but tell me how the
local scene is doing there.
Bryan:
I think it's great.
We provide a place for
bands that don't fit into
the cover band scene and
generally aren't invited to
play on the stages at some
of the other clubs that
host music in Central New
York. The Lost Horizon
only hosts shows. We don't have Happy
Hour; we don't have a walk up crowd.
There's no sidewalk. We're in Dewitt. The
Lost Horizon is The Lost Horizon and we
open for shows. We like to book different
band line-ups. We give regional bands the
chance to come in and be part of these
line-ups. We have some really
great shows like that. We expe-
rience something new almost every night
we're there. It has always been a time-
honored tradition that Greg Italiano was
always great with. Having Scott Sterling
definitely made sure that they represented
the local scene very well in that place.
They didn't shut them out, they embraced
them, and we hope to keep that tradition
alive. Like the back room walls, the place
lives on its reputation and the tradition
behind it. It's a beer and bour-
bon rock club. There are not
many left, especially one with
a thirty-five year old history of
doing it. You'd be hard pressed
to find a place that's been able to
survive that long doing this.
Tom:
You guys do a lot of the
Metal bands now, but there used
to be a big Punk scene going on
there too. I've noticed that over
the last year, the dominate bands
have been Metal and heavy rock
bands... Is there any plan to have
more Punk stuff there?
Bryan:
It's just kinda the way the
local music scene goes... I mean,
if there are more Punk bands being
generated by the area, we'll prob-
ably have a bigger Punk scene.
Once upon a time it was Hair
bands, then it was Thrash bands,
then Hardcore... The place really
does mirror the music as a whole.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: If
you wanted to see what the music
scene was like locally, you'd prob-
ably hang out at The Lost Horizon
and it would give you a really good
idea of where people are at musi-
cally these days. It may change in a
year, in maybe two years...we may
go back to Hair bands again, who
knows? (Laughter)
Tom:
(Laughter) God forbid!
Bryan:
Everyone remembers how
much fun it was! It doesn't matter
what type of music. I don't always
get the music, but there is nothing
I enjoy better than four hundred people
in there digging what's going on. Some-
times that transcends your own personal
taste. It's a hell of a show to watch the
`pit people', watching the kids crowd surf
and watching the crowd sing every word
to every song some local band is playing.
That's the product. That's what the people
of this generation are feeling. It doesn't
have to be some national guy, because
a lot of these bands are just support for
nationals that come through, but they've
created a product of themselves. And the
promoters are smart enough to put them
on the bill. And it's great to see a local go
on before two nationals and set the bar
for the two bands to come. You better
bring it, because that band right there, I'll
even say Merrimac, it's fun to watch their
crowd throw themselves into the show the
band puts on. It is something to see! It's
Lost Horizon