SYRACUSE — Couldn’t get tickets for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour? The city’s new nightclub, The Song & Dance, has you covered. Do you love metal, emo, pop? Whatever the genre, they’ve got you covered there, too. The club, which opened in early August, is a venue for everyone, co-owner and co-founder Eric Binion says. […]
SYRACUSE — Couldn’t get tickets for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour?
The city’s new nightclub, The Song & Dance, has you covered.
Do you love metal, emo, pop? Whatever the genre, they’ve got you covered there, too.
The club, which opened in early August, is a venue for everyone, co-owner and co-founder Eric Binion says.
“You could go there one night and see a bluegrass show, and the next night see a heavy-metal show,” he says.
Binion and his business partner, Dennis Ferry, both work as talent buyers at After Dark Entertainment, Inc., a Buffalo–based independent concert promoter bringing shows to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and the Finger Lakes.
“Opening our own venue in Syracuse was the next logical step,” Binion says. Syracuse makes sense, not just because he lives here, but because the city lacks smaller venues like The Song & Dance.
At about 3,700 square feet, the club can hold just under 400 people, which is exactly the size they were seeking, Binion says.
The idea to open their own club first started about five years ago, and it was a process to find just the right location. “Then we found this spot at the Acropolis Center,” he says.
Located at 115 E. Jefferson St., the building is just around the corner from The Landmark Theatre and has both office and retail space for lease. The Song & Dance is located in the basement, which provides ideal acoustics for musical performances, Binion says.
The pair worked with Ryan Benz of Acropolis Realty Group to find the space and began work at the beginning of this year to get it ready. Unique Development Companies of Syracuse was the general contractor on the project, which included building a stage, green room, bathrooms (including separate bathrooms for performers), and a bar.
“We were able to build the space exactly how we wanted it to be,” Binion says. The interior of the club was intentionally left without any specific theming, he notes, so that all types of acts feel right at home.
The Song & Dance is right in the sweet-spot capacity-wise, he says, for club-sized acts. “It’s that nice in-between spot,” he says. “Not too big, not too small.” More importantly, it means acts looking for venues that size no longer have to bypass Syracuse when setting up their tours.
As talent buyers, Binion and Ferry can now offer their venue up to artists and have been busy booking events including various musical acts and themed nights devoted to artists like Taylor Swift or themes like disco, anime, and gamers.
And while ticket prices are set by the artists, most average around $20, making The Song & Dance an affordable option for a night out,
Along with bringing more performances to Syracuse, the club also helps bring people out in the community when they come to see events, Binion says. He hopes those crowds benefit other area businesses like restaurants. The Song & Dance also sets every performer up with an advance package that includes local business information such as restaurants they may wish to visit while in town.
The nightclub includes a bar and limited food options. The Song & Dance is only open on event nights and employs as many as 10 people per event.
