Midtown Ballroom/Domino Room/Annex — Attraction in Bend

EDIT

To point out out the response from the owner below: You didn't even read my post.

If you actually read my review you would see that the two comments you are referring to are about the Midtown Ballroom, not the Domino Room. There are NO bathrooms accessible from the over 21 area in the Midtown Ballroom, and the awkward barricade is the one that splits the floor at the Midtown ballroom, not the Domino. It would help if you cared about what people think and actually read the reviews, but it's not surprising as your sarcastic defensive responses to comments on here show exactly how this venue is run. With no regard for the patrons, just out to make a buck.

It would also help if these were split as separate venues here on Google so they could be reviewed as the separate venues they are.

ORIGINAL REVIEW

These are two separate venues and should be reviewed as such. I've been to hundreds of shows and the Domino Room is one of the worst venues I've been to. I keep coming back only because they somehow manage to book good acts and it's close to my house, but this place is really awful.

If you ever go to a weekend show expect The Domino Room it to be grossly oversold and there's no way you can stand without being rubbed up on by you closest neighbors, and don't hope to leave to get a drink or go to the bathroom and get back to your spot. And to make it worse, they're now trying to push to have more all ages shows, which means if you want to drink you are stuck upstairs, where you can barely hear the show even if you can score a spot on the rail. The only ok place to watch a show if upstairs is from the balcony, and you still get a half view of the stage and maybe 10 people tops can fit there and see.

The only way to justify coming here is if it's an act that you can't miss and a very bad venue won't matter. If only we had better venues here in Bend to make that change.

The Midtown Ballroom on the other hand is a decent place to see a band when they actually decide to book bands on that side, because the stage doesn't force them to stack on top of each other like the awkward Domino room stage. It still leaves a lot to desire though with how it's run, with the awful barricade in the middle of the floor to separate underage vs 21 plus, and all bathrooms are outside of the drinking area. So you have to finish or somehow leave your drink to go to to the bathroom. They charge a lot more for tickets on this side too, so it's really never a win if a show is at either venue.

Overall this place is very dated. Needs a major overhaul and unfortunately we here in Bend lack quality venues so people patronize the horrible venues and they will never change. They don't even have any beer on draft, which you think would be a requirement with Bend's...

AV has been killing this venue for me, the absurd amount of smoke machine messes with my eyes and throat morning after, audio guy has no clue what he's doing with vocals, the laggy projector visuals are just random and distracting, we got silhouettes of the band were here to see and a video of bugs crawling for what bro 😂, and they have a habit of flashing lights at the audience. No other venue I've been to has done that it's just weird

Show killing AV aside, I volunteered at a comedy show here awhile back, showed up 2 hours early for my setup shift, finished setting up, but then was told for water I would have to buy a water bottle, I said can I just get some ice, nope, said alright I'm going to go to my car to drink from my waterbottle I couldn't carry in. Was told no re-entry. Bro It was a 5 hour volunteer shift and entry hadn't even begun. In most places I've lived it's not legal for alcohol serving businesses to deny free tap, this is the first place I've been that's so hung up on it.

The difference in quality in AV techs and customer service between volcanic and this place is...

The place gets stars for the Polish Ambassador being a great show and the sound/ lights being great, but I hope management reads this and addresses 2 things: 1) charging for bottled water and not providing a water fountain is unethical and obnoxious in my opinion, especially when you're serving alcohol and do not allow reentry. If you're catering to a party crowd, you're asking for people to overheat and get hurt by charging for tiny bottles of water (which also create unnecessary waste)... 2) Your security is way too agro. The job of security should be to contain the event, help people stay safe and have a good time, NOT make people feel watched and persecuted. The thorough pat down is alright in theory if you're looking for weapons, but when I see a good person/ friend being obnoxiously harassed by you agro female security guard cause she's doesn't want to give you something of hers that is legal, that's obnoxious and doesn't make me want to support you. Get your priorities straight with security... you're not there to police and persecute but help your CUSTOMERS be safe and have...