‘It was by the kids, for the kids’: Chain Reaction’s former booker reflects on the O.C. club’s legacy

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I’m Jon Halperin, and I was the person responsible for booking and running the Chain Reaction venue from 2000 to 2006. It all happened unexpectedly – I was already operating a small record label and went to see the band Melee play. The club’s previous booker had just left, so I offered to take over to the owner, Tim Hill, even though I only had experience booking three shows at a coffee shop. After considering it overnight, I got the job the next day.

I started working with Ron Martinez from the band Final Conflict. He focused on booking punk and hardcore shows, while I handled indie, ska, emo, screamo, and pop punk acts. We worked really well together – he was the best colleague I’ve ever had!

My friend Ikey Owens (who sadly passed away) contacted me and said he and his bandmates from At the Drive-In were starting a new project. I had previously worked with their dub side project, Defacto, so we booked them for a show under that name. Around 200 people came to see what would become the very first performance by a band that everyone would soon know as The Mars Volta.

It was common for up-and-coming bands to play at Chain Reaction. Many artists who later became very popular, like Death Cab for Cutie, Avenged Sevenfold, Maroon 5, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Taking Back Sunday, and Pierce the Veil, all performed there early in their careers. The club hosted countless bands that went on to achieve great success.

I used to promise my kids they’d get their money back if they didn’t enjoy a concert I took them to. Luckily, I never had to follow through! I had a good sense of what they’d like, and they trusted my taste in music. It was really a space created by and for young people, even though I was already thirty and had to try to think like a teenager. My friend Brian jokingly called me “Peter Pan” because of it.

Around the middle of my time running the venue, social media started to emerge. Platforms like Friendster and MySpace came along, followed shortly by YouTube. But in those early years, we relied on traditional methods – word of mouth, paper flyers at local coffee shops and record stores, flyers posted in the venue itself, and print magazines like Mean Street and Skratch.

I used to playfully challenge reporters who wanted to review my shows. I’d tell them that if they didn’t come prepared with a notepad and pen, they wouldn’t be allowed inside – I’m still sorry about that, Kelli!

While most music industry professionals headed to the Los Angeles event, those with a keen eye for talent came to our show. Many artists were signed to record deals right after performing. It wasn’t unusual to see bands negotiating contracts with label representatives right there in the parking lot, next to their tour vans.

When I was around, the backstage area was completely drug and alcohol-free. The only exception we made was for a musician with Crohn’s disease who needed medical marijuana and had a nurse traveling with them. I’m not saying other bands didn’t drink or use drugs – especially since we usually traveled in vans, not buses – but if we didn’t see it, we didn’t acknowledge it.

People often called us the “CBGB’s of the West,” and we really lived up to that name. We were the central hub for bands, both local and touring. While other venues existed, bands consistently chose to play at Chain Reaction. Places like Showcase Theater and Koo’s Cafe had either closed or were failing, and Back Alley wasn’t really operating. The Galaxy Theater was still around, but there wasn’t a House of Blues in Anaheim yet. Bands would travel incredibly long distances just for a single show with us. We helped launch countless local bands – they’d start as one of the opening acts and, within a year, be headlining. We were the place where they got their start, and where the most dedicated fans – many of whom would go on to form their own bands – came to see live music.

Luckily, while the original venue is gone, smaller places like Programme Skate in Fullerton, the Locker Room at Garden AMP in Garden Grove, Toxic Toast in Long Beach, and the Haven Pomona are still keeping the all-ages music scene alive. Still, it doesn’t quite feel the same. It was a special time that will likely fade from memory in the years to come, but right now, my social media is full of people sharing memories of a place that felt like a second home to so many kids.

I don’t regret a single moment of those six years, even though they were incredibly challenging. Balancing a regular job with almost nightly gigs was exhausting, and it put a strain on my relationships and friendships. I missed out on a lot of social life and couldn’t even have a pet. Despite the constant tiredness and sacrifices, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.

RIP, Chain Reaction.

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2025-12-20 00:01