The Phoenix Theatre

I saw AFI here in 2001 and when I walked in, I realized it hadn’t changed one bit.
Keep that up. Every community needs a venue like this.

We sat in the balcony for the Conor Oberst, M Ward, Felice Brothers show… in a nutshell the show was outstanding, staff terrific, seats comfortable, sight lines excellent and sound level was loud but not overwhelming. Too many people go to shows to talk these days no matter how exceptional the music, perhaps the sound guys compensate nearer the stage?
Anyway a great night…“Epic” I think is the word du jour.

The staff is very nice and helpful, the music was great, last night seeing Conor Oberst and M Ward and Felice Brothers but I am afraid the sound was so loud, everything got muffled and you could not distinguish the violin player from the keyboard from the accordian and you could tell they were great players! The bass on the drum was unbelievably loud that it was hard to here the songs and there were some great songs! Are all sound guys deaf??? The whole thing was a disappointment. Sound system needs big improvements and could we find a good sound guy please? Nuances of the guitars were lost.

The Phoenix is Petaluma’s heart and soul. Invigorating concerts, wrestling matches, and more. Probably haunted which adds to the ambiance. Tom is the man.

Interesting concert venue to say the very least, from the graffiti art décor, skateboard ramps on both sides of the audience space, rumors of the venue being haunted and the very young age of the average attendee (this place is under age friendly as they do not serve alcohol), I have not been disappointed. I have visited several times in recent months and the experience has always been thoroughly enjoyable. If you are looking for food before a show at the Phoenix or just happen to be in the area and are in the mood for Thai, try Thai Issan (check out my review) they are right down the street.

tl;dr: In my mind it’s a 5, but I’m drenched in angsty teenage nostalgia; for you, jaded concert goer, it might be more like a 3
so I’ll say 4
I shout across the house «hey babe, how would you rate the Phoenix Theater on Unilocal?» «Easy. You get what you pay for»
I agree! You get what you pay for here; more possibly, because this place is dirt cheap!!! Much of my youth I would pay between $ 7 to $ 15 to see a music show, usually beginning at 8 pm and ending after 11pm. This place is worth any show under $ 30.
Here are some notes for first timers:
–you can buy tickets here, but anytime a show plays that costs more that $ 15 I just go to Last Record Store (lived in SR) and get the tickets there, also ticketmaster/​ticketweb cater here sometimes, usually if it’s under $ 15 you just pay a cash cover at the door. Last time I came here I saw someone trying to buy a $ 20 ticket at will call and they seemed upset the attendant wouldn’t take their card, so as of 2014 they still seem to be CASH ONLY (sorry credit/​debit crowd), there are some ATMs up the street at the gas stations I believe, also snacks, and if it’s a smaller show they may let you bring the snacks inside, they usually let me in with my Monster Energy, they may «sniff» test it to make sure you aren’t bringing in alcohol
–usually they have in&outs, and stamp your hand for verification when you come in and hand over your ticket, but once they didn’t so hey, whatever that was about
–there is parking on the street (extremely limited) and parking in a garage a few hundred feet down on Keller, the garage is free, but signs on it say it closes right around midnight
–They still let people smoke out front on the side walk, but don’t irritate the Petaluma PD because they seem to be itching to give out tickets!
–you may be security searched at the entry, but I’ve learned they are more likely to search you for certain shows rather than others (Rap/​hip-​hop etc, high profile bands) they don’t allow weapons, alcohol, or drugs. I’ve seen them toss people out for bringing in alcohol, trying to drink out front in the «smoking area», or showing up drunk. Don’t get too drunk, same with any kind of smoke inside, or showing up high. people still manage to sneak some drug contraband in, but depending on the security that night they may (or may not) toss you out, just so you don’t get mad later when they eject you, now you know!
–the theater is dry (ish)… I’ve never been to a show where they served alcohol, I’ve heard rumors some shows have it, but in over 12 years I have never seen it served, not once. But… Volpi’s bar is across the street, I’ve left a show, had a drink, and returned with no problem, and I’ve seen many others do this as well, so as long as you don’t get super wasted the door guard seems to be ok with this (on nights they have ins&outs, which is most of the time)
–the bathrooms are absolutely terrible. this is where I would concede and understand someone rating it with few stars. sometimes there is soap, sometimes not, same with toilet paper, seat covers, hand towels, toilet seats, door locks, and even the doors on the stalls themselves. I have no idea what the men’s looks like, I imagine about as bad. Punk teenagers vandalize the bathroom anytime it is fixed up, writing crude things on the walls, tear the stall doors off the hinges, the locks might not work, all kinds of fun anarchy! I remember very well being young and having to go to the bathroom and try and hold the door shut myself, then later oh great, no soap and no way to dry your hands! I visited in October 2014 and saw both soap AND paper towels AND 2 of the 3 stalls had locking doors!!! WOW! The Phoenix is on a roller coaster that only goes up!
–there is a snack bar inside, snacks vary in price between shows, water bottles are usually $ 1 or $ 2, also they have some sodas, candy, chips etc, snack bar is also cash only
–there used to be many more skate ramps. I remember 4 very well, 2 tall 2 short, now they just have the short ones, maybe kids fell off the tall ones during a show and got hurt? There also used to be many old used couches in the back of the main standing area, and sometimes the lobby had couches and even the piano room (other Unilocalers call it the small room I see). The couches looked absolutely gross, but people still sat on them. I saw waaaay less couches this last visit, maybe to make more standing room or because they looked dirty and they tried to clean up their image? who knows!
–there is a balcony seating area, but it is not always open. I have seen it opened up for shows that have the potential to fill up the place (Blue Oyster Cult, Devil Makes Three, PM5K, Shinedown) odds are if you see smaller bands it will be closed, get cozy standing close to your neighbor
–finally, to people who think this place looks run down/​bad/​cheap:
+it’s mainly for (broke) punk teenage kids
+it’s cheap to get in
+this is how it looks AFTER the remodel, imagine it 10 years ago

If you are 16 years old and the under 18 club is closed, this is the place for you.
I would have given this review one star, but that tends to keep people from reading it.
I’ve been to concerts on both coast, indoor and outdoor, small (which are almost my favorite) and large (big multiple day festivals ie virginfest, all good festival, HFStival in DC) and I have NEVER been to any venue this terrible. It looked like a scene from shredders underground hangout spot in the original ninja turtles, which sounds awesome for nostalgia reasons alone, then you start to wonder where all of these kids parents are. And why everything is broken (hard to explain… Look around, everything’s broken). And how come they’re showing an E-​40 and Andre Nickatina concert in a dry venue. Oh yeah, side note: without sounding like a complete alcoholic, this is a dry venue. Usually that wouldn’t bother me all that much, however, although this show started as advertised (8:00 PM) the first of the two main acts didn’t show up till 10:20. The venue closes as 11:30. One hour of main attraction music (½ an hour of both, which is bullshit) with two hours of unadvertised noise before hand. I expected an opening something, but it’s unfair to have as much of each of your main performers as each of the six opening acts ahead of them. I was more than unhappy with EVERY aspect if this event and highly suggest you look elsewhere.

First time in this downtown Petaluma venue. Loved that I could get right up to the stage to see Ratt! The club is small, so it didn’t feel crowded. Lots of choices to go up front to the stage, sit upstairs to watch the band from above, mill around the large floor. Only complaint is how seriously disorganized the whole ticketing and entering process was. Everyone was lined up at the «Will Call» booth, only to be told that they were cordoning off the whole area, so we had to be pushed back to nowheresville. It was freezing cold outside, and they had us wait for approximately 45 minutes later than we were told we would have to wait. Consider having two lines, one for people that want to buy tickets, and one for people with «will-​call.» We paid a major upcharge for will call tickets, only to be shuffled around and smooshed in with people that didn’t buy tickets in advance and saved a helluva lot of $!
With all my complaining I’d definitely go to another show here if someone cool comes back. (fingers crossed Agent Orange will play here again!) There’s nothing like seeing a band up close and personal. I got some excellent pictures last night of the band, another major plus!

Saw Ratt here last night, first night I’ve been into The Phoenix in 20 years. The sound was pretty good, great view of the band pretty much from anywhere you stand.
But seriously… the place is a friggin’ dump, suffering from years of neglect and seemingly no care of upgrades or maintenance. The two corridors from the front lobby to the stage area are narrow and cramped… I wouldn’t feel particularly safe there in case of an emergency.
They ran out of beer in the «bar» area downstairs, so we were told there is a second bar upstairs, where they had one woman busting her bootie behind a makeshift bar alone. The line of people made the walkway almost unpassable.
At one point I was able to get up close to the stage and my foot sunk into a hole from whoever had managed to take out that chunk of concrete. Again, not terribly safe in a dark, crowded room.
Love the venue and what it has provided to local bands (especially the young ones) over the years. But come on… clean the place up. Heck, they could make the teen bands do it as a requirement for getting a gig there! ;)

First concert venue I ever attended as a high school kid. I’ve been to numerous shows there since and seen some of the best shows there. Skate ramps used during the day are off to the sides and make for a decent view over the crowd if you’re lucky enough to find an open spot and coordinated enough to run up them. Don’t go expecting anything fancy, venue in general is pretty old. Also, if the music is fast and there’s a good sized crowd, there will be a pit. Consider yourself warned.
(Best shows seen there: AFI, Reel Big Fish, Zebrahead, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less Than Jake, Home Grown, et al.)

EXCELLENT CONCERT VENUE! Very small and intimate concert venue. Can watch great acts here and meet the artists in the back. There is artwork all along the walls and I love it. Very divey bar esque but for a $ 10 ticket, nothing beats it. I highly recommend this place especially if you like small shows.
Not much food or drink options in the venue.
Street and garage parking only.

A good venue, but a dry one – don’t you dare bring in a blunt, they will find you, and yes, they will take your blunt (even if you just started chiefing it). They are pretty much smoke nazis here, the security guards look for any traces of smoke and will trace it back to your exhaling mouth with their flashlights.
That said, there are still some good shows that come to the Phoenix. I saw Andre Nickatina and Yukmouth here in January, which was rad. The only bummer was that all the rappers got to smoke a shit ton of blunts and joints on stage, yet no one in the audience was allowed to. (note: sorry if I sound butthurt about the blunt thing)
There are no actual seats, so wear shoes that aren’t going to wreck your feet– chances are you will be standing for quite a while. If you are short, make the best of it and try to get closer to the stage so you can get some good views. The sound is pretty good, and it’s a fun place for the underage crowd. Sometimes the shows aren’t super crowded, making the experience even more intimate/​awkward. It’s grimey, but hey, it’s got character.
They do search you pretty darn well before you can enter, so keep that in mind before you bring in anything that might be confiscated or taken away…

I’ve seen 3 shows over the course of ten years, the venue never changed, right down to the smell of piss. Literally, you walk in, and it smells foul.
But hey, I got to see Papa Roach.