The man bringing big-city rave energy to the Capital Region

March 17, 2026

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! Today, we’re introducing you to Shane Stiel, who’s responsible for some of the biggest EDM shows to hit the Capital Region in the last few years.

👨‍🌾 Did you know that Phat is not only the co-publisher of The 518 Newsletter (this thing you’re reading), but he’s also a contributor to Capital Region Living magazine? This month, he’s got the cover story—an intimate profile of Matt Baumgartner, the somewhat controversial founder behind June Farms.

🍏 We’ve partnered with Nine Pin to offer one of our subscribers an extra-special invitation to their popular Hangover Brunch, a free event on Saturday morning featuring Typhoid Mary, Forrest Fleur and Andramada serving shamrocks and showstoppers with DJ Mercy.

Reply with “Feed me at Hangover Brunch” and we’ll enter you into a drawing for 2 free cider pours and a yummy charcuterie board, compliments of Nine Pin!

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

An All of Us dance night called The Boom Box at Troy’s Whiskey Pickle

The man bringing big-city rave energy to the Capital Region

If you’re into EDM and you live in the Capital Region, you’ve got slim pickings.

Clubs like No Fun and Whiskey Pickle in Troy, and Fuze Box and Empire Live in Albany invite the occasional DJ, but a true home for progressive house, techno and trance is harder to find.

Maybe you just need to know where to look—and who to follow. In the last couple of years, perhaps no person has done more to build up the local EDM scene than Shane Stiel.

Through his company, All of Us Events, Stiel has become one of the most prominent producers pushing rave culture in the 518. He arrived in the Capital Region with decades of raving, clubbing and dancing behind him—starting out as a Colorado raver at the tender age of 14, getting into DJing in 1998, followed by years playing clubs worldwide and building connections.

After Covid reset nightlife and touring gigs for the club scene worldwide, he followed his partner back to the Capital Region and discovered a place with untapped potential for EDM shows.

“That’s when it kind of dawned on me that I could create music in a different way,” Shane recalls. “I formed All of Us with the goal of really highlighting the Capital Region and the artists here.”

Shane Stiel is arguably the most influential EDM event producer in the Capital Region

There’s a healthy appetite for dance music here, but the region still doesn’t have a dedicated EDM venue.

“It’s really unfortunate, actually,” Shane says. “Nightlife is a huge cultural and economic engine in a city. It’s what helps the city thrive.”

Amen to that. Shane has applied to be part of Albany mayor Dorsey Applyrs’ new nightlife advisory council so he can be an influential voice for EDM in civic discussions.

He’s also focused on creating spectacular dance nights by bringing together global DJs alongside local talent. Shane’s current base is Saratoga’s Universal Preservation Hall, which can hold up to 700 people. The dramatic venue offers superior sound, striking architecture, and enough atmosphere to make the night feel transportive. In 2023, Shane brought the first-ever EDM concert to UPH with Midnight Mass: The Masquerave.

“I want to bring productions that you mostly see in big cities,” he says, “but also uplift the local artists here, because they just get overlooked.”

Shane is also hoping to do more in Albany and Troy. He’s had talks with venues like the Pickle, Ilium Brewing, and the Albany Capital Center. He’s also reopened conversations with the MVP Arena for a big show there.

“Now that we’ve got a solid following we can start talking about doing something on a much larger scale.”

The deets: Follow All of Us Events on their website and Instagram.

This Saturday, All of Us is throwing one of its biggest parties all year. The 3rd Annual Bloomin’ celebrates the spring equinox with headliner Stone Van Brooken, a Belgian/French progressive and melodic techno DJ and producer. Also on the bill: DJ Wave (who often plays at Ilium) and another Capital Region favorite, SYNES.

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🐅 Tiger Mama Work N’ Play Space at 302 10th Street in Troy celebrated its soft opening last weekend. Created by our friends Lidia Zambrano-Madera (of Lidia’s Empanadas) and Jinah Ahn (of Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen), and two other partners, Tiger Mama is designed as a “third place” for families with young kids. There are tables and seating available where caregivers can sit, relax, and get a bit of work done while their child plays.

🍩 Bitchin’ Donuts is opening up its second Capital Region location today in Colonie at at 2008 Central Ave. The Albany favorite suffered a setback when a fire damaged its longtime Lark Street location, forcing the shop to relocate next to The Cheese Traveler in the DelSo neighborhood. One huge plus of the new Colonie spot: Parking is so much easier than Lark Street. [Albany Business Review]

🎖️ Critic Bill Kellert is raving about theREP’s production of “Archduke,” which revolves around the 1914 plot to assassinate Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Ferdinand. The play has been transported from the Tony Award-winning Wilma Theater in Philadelphia to Albany. Kellert says the production is an “enticing combination of drama, sadness and a great deal of humor” that’s “beautifully directed” by Wilma co-founder Blanka Zizka. [Daily Gazette]

This lovingly maintained 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath Colonial in Nisky features refinished, butter-smooth hardwood floors that set a warm tone for the shared spaces, including a living room with a cozy gas fireplace and built-in bookshelves. The newly updated kitchen comes with granite countertops, a tile backsplash, and stainless steel appliances, all less than six years old. A greenhouse porch provides stress-free spring seed planting and an indoor/outdoor space for unwinding with ease.

Storage is abundant with a full cedar (delicious!) walk-up attic , plus a neat and clean basement with its own a cedar closet. Major appliance updates include furnace and hot water heater within the past 4 years. Outside, mature landscaping includes a new retaining wall. All of this in the heart of Old Niskayuna, a top-rated school district. An added bonus is 1% ownership in the nearby Baker Park.

The deets: 3 bd, 2 ba, 1496 sf. Asking: $339,900. Days on market: 6. See the full listing here.

Note: Our expansive weekend roundup publishes on Thursdays. Watch your inboxes!

WEDNESDAY

👩‍⚕️ Albany Community Acupuncture offers a weekly clinic at People’s Health Sanctuary on a sliding scale ($10-$40 per session).

🎬️ Picture Lock One in Troy hosts Tibetan-Canadian filmmaker Kunsang Kyirong for a screening of her new movie, “100 Sunset,” which revolves around a young woman living in the Tibetan immigrant community of west Toronto. Read our profile of PL1, which screens in a real bank vault in Troy!

THURSDAY

🖼️ Opalka Gallery hosts Stage and Stanza, Conversations with Creatives with Jacqui Anscombe‑Waring and Aaron Moore. See “Plastique,” the new exhibition while you’re there!

🃏 Jokers of Magic promises to be “a no-holds-barred evening of tricks, lies and laughs” at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga.

💫 The YWCA of Northeastern NY presents its biggest event of the year, the 43rd Annual Empowerment Awards Gala at Rivers Casino in Schenectady.

FRIDAY

💃 Broadway Rave at Empire Live is a dance party especially for all you theater kids!

🍺 Taste dozens of craft beers and dig into tasty bites at the 16th Annual Glens Falls Brewfest.

🐝 Sand Lake Town Library’s Annual Spelling Bee is the place to watch the area’s top spellers compete.

🖼️ Get to EMPAC for Jeni Wright’s latest installation, Conducting Life: A Celebration of Microbes and Gertrude Stein. Wright is a biologist and artist known for her mud paintings. Formal seating at 1p and talk back at 1:30p.

🕹️ Also at EMPAC is Peter Burr’s Maintenance Game, a room-sized video game about designing systems designed to fail.

SATURDAY

🦎 The Saratoga Reptile Show, one of the largest reptile shows in NY, returns with hundreds of critters to see—and possibly take home, if you can convince Mom & Dad.

🍀 Clover Fest 2026 at the MVP Arena is being billed as “Albany’s biggest music event of the year,” with a full lineup of hip-hop artists, rappers, and dancehall talent.

🍏 Nine Pin invites you to Hangover Brunch, a free event featuring Typhoid Mary, Forrest Fleur and Andramada serving shamrocks and showstoppers with DJ Mercy.

🦘Watch some spectacular jump rope masters at the 4th Annual Nanny’s Double Dutch League at Albany Armory.

🗣️ The Sanctuary for Independent Media is putting on “Run, Hide, Fight,” a youth storytelling workshop.

🛶 Catch “They Built America: Workers of the Erie Canal” at Universal Preservation Hall.

💀 Legendary gore-metal titans GWAR make their invariably messy return to Albany’s Empire Live, with special guests Soulfy and King Parrot.

🐇 Bethlehem Lutheran Church invites the kids to Easter Egg Hunt, at 10a and 12p.

SUNDAY

🕊️ Lost & Found is hosting “One Day of Peace & Music,” featuring 15 of the best musicians that the 518 has to offer, including Sydney Worthley, Caity Gallagher, Nocturnne, The Sugar Hold, and more! Metroland has a preview of what’s being called “The 518 Woodstock.” Admission is a suggested donation of $10.

🎸 Join WAMC On the Road for a special conversation recorded live at the historic Caffe Lena—Does music matter?

🍏 Nine Pin invites you to Craft and Sip: Glass Blowing for an introductory class on this artful skill.

🎻 The Next Generation Festival at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall features six colleges and over 100 young musicians coming together to represent the best of what classical music has to offer.

🍸️ Lectures & Libations at Bibulous in Saratoga features Nelson Dellis, six-time USA Memory Champion and author of the upcoming book, Everyday Genius: Hacks to Boost Your Memory, Focus, Problem-Solving, and Much More.

MONDAY

👟 Put on your sneakers and Walk with Us for fare free transit, a peace walk led by the youth organizers at We Are Revolutionary. 12–3:30p, from West Capitol Park to Green Tech High School.

🎸 Super Dark Mondays presents PTCHWRK / G.O.L.E.M. / Pink Lady, a free 21+ show at Saratoga’s Desperate Annie’s.

ART ON VIEW

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