Venue notes: Lost Horizon, Syracuse NY

Rock club with punk leanings. Remained in operation under that name until sometime in 2004, when it was sold to new owners and renamed the Tundra Tavern, which also eventually went under. The building, located at 5863 Thompson Rd, Syracuse NY 13224, was unoccupied as of summer 2007, but the club was revived under its original name sometime prior to July 2911, and remains in operation as of late 2016.

Peter Neidhardt recalls:

Back in the day, from circa 1983 to 1990 or so, virtually every indie/hardcore/punk performer who was anybody played the Lost. Some of the bands who played there include: Buttholes, Flag, Ramones, Flipper, M-Pups, Minutemen, DK's, Die Kreuzen, Jerks, Sonic Y, Dino Jr., Replacements, just to name a few.

Incidentally, I lived 20 minutes from the Lost Horizon and was a major Huskers fan at the time of the August 1984 gig but had NO IDEA they were playing there that particular evening.

He adds, regarding the capacity figure previously given here that came from some now-forgotten online source,

I think your stated capacity of 750 people is little on the high side. This place was and is very small. I recall Lost Horizon staff stating a capacity number somewhere between 400 and 500.

Onetime Nova Mob guitarist Chris Hesler, writing in May 2009, notes that the club apparently reopened under its old name and in fact has a MySpace page here. He adds:

Peter's recollections about the club sound accurate to me, though I was only there a couple of times. I didn't notice at the time but in the photos it really appears to be a home converted into a nightclub. The rear portion of the building (cinder block construction) is where the stage was located. Downstage dead center there was an unsightly vertical steel pole, where evidently they had removed a load-bearing wall. It was a pretty dumpy place all around, and a fitting example of the general aesthetic of Syracuse. But they did book some great acts. I saw the Damned circa 1985, and got thrown down the steps for some misdeed or another. Rolling Stones are purported to have played a quasi-secret warm-up show sometime in the early '90s but I can't find any corroboration on the web. I did find out that the club has reopened, for better or (mostly) worse.

Sue Hawkins, another Lost Horizon vet, recalls in Dec 2009 her impressions of the atmosphere:

Anyway, I used to go there from time to time and woulld agree that YES! it was teeny, and add that the acoustics were not good. This was not helped when an artist decided to turn it up — which occasionally happened when you'd least expect it. I saw Nick Lowe there in the early 1980's (82 or 83) and I do love me some Basher, but man that was louder than the Who both times I saw them. I also saw Graham Parker there during the same period, also the Stray Cats. As a Height Challenged American, I found that there were a few great spots to view the action from as the interior was tiered. Just place yourself at the leading edge on one of the rails, and you're set. You can see over the heads of everyone else without standing on a chair (not that there were chairs hanging around).

The LH used to have a swell lit sign, too with a palm tree on it. Wonder what happened to that.... I remember driving over the curb to leave the Stray Cats show. Of course, I was driving my parents' car at the time. Had a 45 minute drive back to Oswego to worry about it!

[Do you have more information about this venue? Please email me.]

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