Upstate Beat: Weird … and vital: No Fun celebrates two years

“There’s always going to be an inherent weird vibe to anything we do here,” said August Rosa, standing behind the bar at the No Fun music venue on a recent evening in downtown Troy. A white paper mache skull with crooked teeth and horns like a Texas longhorn hung behind him over the bar.

Rosa, who also owns the Pint Sized craft beer bars in Saratoga Springs and Albany, opened No Fun in December of 2021. Named after a song by the Stooges, No Fun took over the space at 275-275 River St. and quickly became one of the best-booked music venues in the Capital Region.

The club will celebrate its second anniversary this Saturday with a covers show in which 15 local bands — including Front Biz, Haunted Cat, The Abyssmals, Flavour, Sun Natives, Rabid Children and Sugar Hold — will perform one to two songs each by the legendary David Bowie.

Looking back, Rosa recalled the difficult conditions under which the club opened, but the 38-year-old expressed satisfaction at the success of the past year as well as excitement for the year ahead.

Rosa signed his lease for the club in August of 2021, when “there were zero coronavirus cases in the state. Then we opened into the omicron surge,” he said, pledging that would be the last time that he talked about COVID-19 and its impact on the venue’s first year.

“2024 to me could be the year when we move forward. This place is packing out often,” Rosa said of the venue with a capacity of roughly 210. “We sold out over a quarter of our shows last year — close to 50 shows — which is awesome. 2024 is just going to catapult — it’s going to be crazy.”

The club’s performance in June by Baltimore electronic musician Dan Deacon sold out in 35 minutes, a record for the venue. This week, No Fun announced an upcoming March 11 show by hardcore act Drug Church, which typically plays much larger venues. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m., and Rosa expects the show to sell out almost instantly.

Part of No Fun’s appeal is its eclecticism. The venue books many genres of music, including rock, punk, experimental, metal, hip-hop and dance.

In 2023, bands as varied as noise group Wolf Eyes, Zambian psychedelic-rock band WITCH, Russian surf-guitar band Messer Chups, dance-rock band Chk Chk Chk (also known as !!!) and Japanese garage rock group the 5.6.7.8’s have played celebrated shows there.

“In the last week I booked bands from Cameroon, Congo, Thailand, Japan, Brazil and France,” said Rosa, who focuses on psychedelic rock and global music for the shows he personally books.

Music events are typically scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday, with the venue open from 5 p.m. to close. In the absence of a scheduled act, Tuesday nights are for VCR Vortex, a cult movie night hosted by No Fun booking manager Shane Sanchez of Super Dark Collective. Wednesday nights are for Weird Ass Open Mic or Weird Ass Karaoke, hosted by sound manager John Olander.

The common denominator is a desire to create a space where people can make new musical discoveries. Rosa is himself a musician who now plays in Sun Natives. In his college days he played in the experimental rock group Aficionado.

“If what’s being presented here isn’t challenging it’s not worth it to us,” said Rosa. “There are no boundaries to what gets presented here.”

In addition to Rosa and Sanchez, shows are also presented by Rachel Freeman of Byrdhouse Records, Dan Paoletti of Bee Sides Presents and Sean Secor of Hey, Greasy!. Monthly events such as the astrologically themed planetarium dance party round out the schedule.

“Everyone carves out different pockets of alternative music. A lot of it happens organically. There’s a creative will — everyone wants cool [stuff] to happen here, and I’m very receptive to all of it,” Rosa said.

“It’s not a corporate place,” he added. “This is an authentic DIY vibe, yet it operates professionally like a business. Bands will say they love playing this spot because it’s not like playing a sports bar or a strip mall. It feels like a basement show without being a basement show.”

The checkered black-and-white flooring at No Fun and the loose vibe reminds music fans of the much-loved former Albany club Valentine’s Music Hall and Beer Joint, which was an influence on Rosa, who grew up in Orange County but moved to the Capital Region 20 years ago to attend The College of Saint Rose (R.I.P) and then the University at Albany for a master’s in business.

In February, Rosa and No Fun will celebrate for the second year the spirit of the now-defunct Valentine’s, which closed in 2013 after being swallowed by Albany Medical Center’s redevelopment of New Scotland Avenue. (But before, for two weeks in January, No Fun will be closed in part to repair the club’s battered checkered floor tiles.)

Rosa worked in concert with former Valentine’s owner Howard Glassman, who now co-owns Nighthawks Restaurant in Troy, to book the weeklong celebration from Feb. 13-18 of bands and people that made Valentine’s a special place, including power-pop rocker Ted Leo on Feb. 17. Glassman’s band, the Men Who Loved Music, will open.

“I want everyone who comes here to experience new things and to challenge themselves,” Rosa said. “That’s what Valentine’s was back in the day for me.

“This really is a passion project for me,” he added. “Aside from family, music is the most important thing in my life.”

The Week Ahead
The Figgs return to the Hangar on the Hudson in Troy on Friday, sharing a bill with Sarah Borges and spreading holiday cheer. 8 p.m.

Contact Kirsten Ferguson at theupstatebeat@gmail.com.

Look back fondly
No Fun owner August Rosa shared some of his favorite shows so far at the venue:
Sept. 22, 2022: No Fun’s grand opening with A Place to Bury Strangers / Glove
July 22, 2022: Gibby Haynes (Butthole
Surfers) with the Paul Green Rock Academy
Sept. 28, 2022: Medicine Singers with
Yonatan Gat, Thor Harris & Chris Pravdica / Wax Shamu
Dec. 10, 2022: Here Comes Success No Fun Anniversary & Iggy Pop Cover Show
March, 2, 2023: Wolf Eyes & The Difficult Messages Group with Raven Chacon
& Alex Moskos
June 8, 2023: Dan Deacon / Jeremy Hyman
July 20, 2023: Guerilla Toss / Bruiser & Bicycle / Foyer Red
Aug. 24, 2023: 5.6.7.8.s / Sit n’ Spin / The Abyssmals
Sept. 29, 2023: Hand Habits / Allegra Kreiger
Oct. 19, 2023: Gilla Band / Bambara
Oct. 31, 2023: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs / Wrasp / Dogpisser
— Kirsten Ferguson