Albany’s Fuze Box has a new owner, with Craig Earle, a local DJ known as DJ TGIF, taking the reigns from owner William “Tragedy” Yager.
Best known as QE2 in the 80s and 90s, then owned by Charlene Shortsleeve, the venue was the home for punk, hardcore, alternative and grunge bands, welcoming rising bands, established artists and those lost from memory.
Yager purchased the venue in 2021, keeping it from falling into the hands of developers who would not maintain the music venue’s history and place in Capital Region lore.
Earle will serve as the fourth owner in the club’s storied history, bringing his experience as a musician, radio DJ (JAMZ 96.3), Program Director for Grand Street Community Radio, and is founder of the Albany Urban Arts Gallery. With this experience, Earle is poised to bring Fuze Box to a wider audience and forge from the bridge that Yager built from the previous owner.
Earle said in a Facebook post, “As of today, I’m officially the OWNER of the Fuze Box! Owning my own nightclub was a dream that I had when I first started DJing, and now 17 years later, it’s here.”