'Chain Reaction Forever': OC's all-ages haven for punk, ska and hardcore closes its doors

Few venues epitomized the passionateness of unrecorded euphony similar small, scrappy all-ages venue Chain Reaction. With an interior covered with set stickers and T-shirts and a cramped, enclosed alley with walls covered successful gum and graffiti, the Anaheim venue connected Lincoln Avenue spent astir 30 years arsenic a staple for punk, ska, hardcore, emo and much that helped enactment OC connected the representation for generations of section euphony fans.

This Friday marks the last shows astatine the venue, which OC Weekly erstwhile referred to arsenic “the CBGBs of the West Coast”. Since 1996, Chain fostered breakout bands similar Touché Amoré, Atreyu, Thrice, Throwdown and Eighteen Visions. Meanwhile it besides became a must-stop venue for touring bands similar Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Yellowcard, My Chemical Romance and The Used.

But aft truthful galore years of dilatory waning attendance numbers, and a large deed from the COVID-19 pandemic, Chain Reaction began to sink. Unfortunately, adjacent the concession of adding a barroom to the longtime adust venue wasn’t capable to support the nine profitable, and they made the last-minute announcement via Instagram past week:

“This telephone wasn’t made quickly. We wrestled with it and person yet made the determination to adjacent our doors. We privation to convey each band, instrumentality and attendee of our shows. We privation to convey the country that supported america for astir 3 decades. We privation to convey you for the friendships and memories made successful our peculiar club. Thank you for supporting america done the years and erstwhile we needed it most. CHAIN REACTION FOREVER.”

The closing of a staple successful 1 of the biggest alternate euphony communities successful the state is simply a awesome of a dismal authorities of affairs for a once-thriving scene.

“It’s benignant of ironic that Chain’s past amusement volition beryllium connected my 68th birthday,” Tim Hill, who founded the Anaheim nine successful 1996, told The Times. Hill, who present lives successful Oregon, moved to Villa Park connected the northbound extremity of Orange County successful 1996 from his hometown of Maywood a fewer months earlier opening the venue. At the clip helium owned and operated a palmy automotive electrical institution that gave him fiscal state to effort his manus astatine the unrecorded euphony business.

In 1996, helium loaned $10,000 to a person named Charlie Meloncamp to unfastened a performance abstraction successful Anaheim successful speech for 10% of the revenue, but it was lone a mates months earlier his person abandoned ship.

“Charlie was conscionable a feline who had bully ideas, and I was the concern guy,” Hill said. “Even though it was his thought to unfastened the place, helium was the 1 that decided helium didn’t privation to bash it anymore due to the fact that helium realized it wasn’t going to marque money. But I didn’t attraction due to the fact that I already had money, truthful it could run astatine a nonaccomplishment for a agelong clip and I didn’t request to interest astir it.”

The club’s archetypal performance was Labor Day play successful 1996 nether the archetypal sanction of Public Storage Coffee Lounge, with a signifier that astatine the clip was lone 1 ft tall.

“Unfortunately, Charlie had forgotten to get a unrecorded amusement licence earlier the lawsuit and the metropolis came successful and unopen it down, kicking everyone retired astir an hr into the show, I deliberation aft the archetypal oregon 2nd band. We gave everyone a voucher for the adjacent amusement truthful that mode they didn’t consciousness similar they got ripped off,” Hill said.

The adjacent respective months were a painstaking process to procure the indispensable permits for a unrecorded all-ages venue.

“The determination utilized to beryllium a barroom that got unopen down due to the fact that idiosyncratic got changeable successful determination and the gathering was reddish tagged by the metropolis of Anaheim, truthful the aged conditional usage licence was taken distant and we had to wholly commencement from scratch,” Hill said. “I had to spell successful beforehand of City Council to talk a mates times, enactment angiosperm beds successful the parking lot, alteration the fig of parking spots, enactment successful a handicap spot, comply with the signage rules retired front, motion tons of forms, etc.” That besides included getting Anaheim’s constabulary main astatine the clip to motion disconnected connected the venue’s conditional usage permit, Hill said.

“It was a large deal. I mean conscionable deliberation astir it, you’re gonna person a clump of underage teenagers travel to a concert? All kinds of things tin spell wrong.” But Hill realized the request for an all-ages venue successful Orange County. “It was truthful important for determination to beryllium a spot similar this for each those kids to go.”

Hill worked the container bureau each azygous lawsuit aft his time job, and arsenic connection of the all-ages haven spread, the club, which was operating astatine a loss, turned into an overnight occurrence story.

“Chain started making beauteous bully money. I had figured retired a bully system,” Hill said. “When the punk and hardcore bands started coming successful — Throwdown, Eighteen Visions — they would spell to Showcase Theater and merchantability the spot out, but the feline would lone wage them 200 bucks oregon so. I figured, immoderate came successful done the door, I would subtract my staff, and immoderate was near over, the set would get 60% oregon so. So fundamentally if radical travel to spot you, you’re getting paid a batch of money. They were smaller bands but the country was mode better. Pretty overmuch each amusement would merchantability out. We would beryllium having shows 3 times a week backmost then. Sometimes 5 times a week. Punk shows, ska, hardcore, emo.”

Touche Amoré performing astatine Chain Reaction successful 2010

(Joe Calixto)

Hill credits the semipermanent occurrence to providing the country with a harmless abstraction for teenagers to telephone their headquarters.

“I was perfectly committed to nary bar. I conscionable thought it was truthful chill to person a spot that kids could go. Parents would speech to maine each the clip due to the fact that they were disquieted astir their 14-year-old kid going to a performance by themselves. I would archer them, ‘Just travel successful with your kid, beryllium successful the backmost during the show, and determine for yourself if your kid tin travel back.’”

What followed were years of countless packed-house nights, a Rolling Stone Magazine writeup successful 1999, “secret shows” for bands similar the Offspring, New Found Glory and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong’s broadside task Pinhead Gunpowder, and occasional personage drop-ins.

“I don’t retrieve the archetypal clip I saw him but Jason Schwartzman utilized to travel successful each the time,” Hill said. “He really played determination erstwhile with his set Phantom Planet. I smoked a cigar with Gary Busey successful the parking batch 1 nighttime erstwhile helium had travel to a show… Oh, and Billy Ray Cyrus and his woman came once, too. His lad is successful a set that played determination respective times and they came done the backmost doorway to ticker them. Honestly, determination were a batch of times I could person sold Chain Reaction for a batch of money, but I wanted to marque definite it kept going the mode it was. That’s wherefore I sold it to Andy [Serrao].”

Andy Serrao had been 1 of the booking agents for Chain Reaction since 2006. In 2015 Tim sold the nine to him and retired to his existent location successful Oregon.

“We had been doing it for specified a agelong clip already. Keep successful mind, astir of those years I was moving 18-hour days, going consecutive to Chain to enactment the container bureau and I would enactment until each the kids would permission anyplace betwixt midnight to 1 a.m. and I had to get up and beryllium astatine enactment astatine 7 successful the greeting the adjacent day. Andy was 1 of the guys who booked section bands for america for a agelong time. One time I conscionable asked him if helium wanted to bargain Chain and we worked retired a deal. It was beauteous simple.”

Hardcore set Touché Amoré played a twelve shows astatine Chain Reaction from 2009 to 2019, including their archetypal ever headlining acceptable with Joyce Manor opening successful May 2010, truthful pb vocalist Jeremy Bolm is arsenic bully arsenic immoderate erstwhile it comes to a reliable root connected the subject.

“Just similar with astir venues, you don’t cognize what you person until it’s gone. I really support a publication of each summons stub for each amusement I’ve ever been to, truthful I inactive person the stub from the archetypal clip I ever went to Chain. It was Sept. 22, 2001. The bands were Eighteen Visions and Taken.”

Right earlier the COVID-19 lockdown, Touché Amoré played what would beryllium their last halt astatine Chain Reaction connected circuit for the 10th day of their archetypal record, “...To the Beat of a Dead Horse.”

“We knew for the West Coast, we had to bash the evident 3 erstwhile it comes to what radical deliberation astir erstwhile they deliberation astir legendary venues connected the West Coast: Che Cafe, Gilman and Chain,” Bolm said.

Since announcing the demise of the location, radical from each states and adjacent different countries person been broadcasting their heartbreak online connected forums similar Reddit.

“I’m from San Diego truthful Chain was a staple. My hubby is from upstate NY and told maine erstwhile helium was a kid his imagination was to play a amusement astatine Chain,” 1 Reddit idiosyncratic commented.

“I’m each the mode successful Florida and person ne'er been anyplace adjacent SoCal and adjacent I cognize however legendary that venue is. RIP to a existent one,” lamented another.

Greg Katz from the set Cheekface grew up successful Irvine and enactment into words precisely however formative Chain Reaction was for his individuality successful the scene.

“Chain taught maine however to emotion autarkic music. It taught maine however to beryllium portion of an indie scene. I learned to emotion section bands and to enactment touring bands. The t-shirts connected the partition were a benignant of roadworthy representation to different bands you mightiness like. The backmost alley extracurricular of the venue crystalized a batch of my agelong word friendships.

“It’s truly bittersweet that it’s leaving Orange County without an evident replacement. And it astir apt signals the extremity of an epoch for enactment of existent autarkic euphony successful OC. Of people determination are different venues, but determination is not different Chain Reaction.”