Chain Reaction

I've been attending this venue since my early teens, and although it's more than a bit cramped, it's special in many ways -- the personal atmosphere is apparent (no barricade between crowd and stage) but also rough. If you're not a fan of direct contact or the pushing and shoving of being at a music show, then you're going to hate it. But if you enjoy getting into it and having fun...then it's perfect. My only real complaint is the lack of air circulation and air conditioners. If you're short like me, then you will have a hard time catching your breath or cooling off, because when your head hardly meets the shoulders of the people around you, there is no fresh air being circulated and it makes it difficult to breathe, so having an air conditioner helps a lot, but they only have one...and I hate having to travel back to the same spot to get some air --  In effect, I tend to become dehydrated quicker, causing me to spend more money than I'd like to to on water.

Minus that problem (which is only a relevant issue if you're smaller) it's a wonderful place with a wonderful staff who book some of the greatest bands in the scene (caters to a variety of genres). I definitely recommend giving this place a chance. It's also friendly to all ages, so you can bring your kids/parents/etc!

It's funny because the other reviews mention how there are many high school and middle school kids, and how it sort of "ruins" the atmosphere... and I totally thought I wouldn't mind high school and middle school kids at a venue... but to be honest, it's really weird. I felt super old and I'm only in college. Most of the people were really young and it was strange--I felt out of place. I don't care about a venue having alcohol, so it wasn't that really. When I first pulled in, about an hour before the show, there was about 2 dozen preteen and teen kids hanging outside the venue. Then a few of them drive up in these fancy sportscars and they don't even look old enough to drive.

I was in the mosh pit, but I was at the end of it towards the wall and almost all the way in the corner, so I didn't experience it being "super hot" like other people mentioned. If I was further away from the wall, I bet I would definitely agree with them. I saw some people (like small girls who are 4 foot tall) just being smothered by other taller, bigger people in the mosh pit and I have no idea how they could breathe in there, because even where I was towards the wall, I would try to go on my tippy-toes to get a gasp of air away from everyone's sweat and breathing. It was a super crowded mosh pit to the point where you couldn't even push anyone because we were literally shoulder-to-shoulder back-to-back.

I also wasn't impressed with the sound system. It had a fuzzy over-layer.

It also was annoying because not only was the show late to start, but also they let us in over an hour late, and usually I am not impatient--but I had to pee so bad. I got out of line to ask the guy if I could use the bathroom real quick and he said he "wasn't allowed to let me". But that's sort of paradoxical considering that this was an hour after they were supposed to let us in. I feel like the place is just run by a bunch of laid-back punk people, and they don't care how late anything is (which makes sense--what do you expect from punks).

One thing I did appreciate though, is that they sell earplugs for 1$. Those earplugs saved my life listening to the opening bands, which I did not enjoy. Thank you, earplugs for saving my ears from the awful music!

I'm not planning on going back, especially that the venue is such a far drive from me, but I enjoyed the night to the best of my ability.

BOTTOM LINE: I know of other venues that house punk shows with less crowded crowds and older people, and better sound quality, and *slightly* more reliable entrance times.

Good ole Chain Reaction.  I've been coming here for 15+ years.  There have been good times and bad times.  Some great bands, and some terrible ones as well.  It's a small place, but the sound is ALWAYS awesome.  It does seem like a different place since Christian passed, but Chain will forever be one of the greatest venues to see a band.