It’s mayhem inside Santa Barbara’s new rage room.
Grab a crowbar and smash a bottle into smithereens. Swing a baseball bat and bust up a coffee pot. Or just grab a giant plate and slam it against the wall.
And that’s just the first minute of the chaos.
The rage room is set to open this Wednesday inside the State Street Axe Club, 427 State Street.
The opening is timed to the kickoff for Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days Fiesta.
“This is something that a lot of people in Santa Barbara have been asking for for a while,” said owner Brett Michaelson. “Finally, you have a place to rage. Let it all out.”
It’s the city’s only rage room; the nearest alternatives are in Los Alamos and Ventura.
Visitors will get the chance to wear protective jumpsuits, eye visors and rubber gloves during the rage session. The room, nestled behind the business’s axe throwing lanes, also comes with a built-in phone mount and customizable speaker, allowing visitors to choose the music while breaking items, Michaelson said.
“You do you,” he said.
The axe club offers two rage room packages. Smashing 10 plates, bowls and glassware, 10 beer bottles, five liquor bottles and two random items costs $45 per person. The second package costs $80 per person and includes 20 plates, bowls and glassware, 10 liquor bottles, 20 beer bottles and four random items.
Each session lasts for 20 minutes and all the items are sanitized, Michaelson said. The axe club plans to allow up to six to eight people in the room at a time.
He said the axe club offers a discounted price for both the rage room and axe-throwing service. One hour of axe throwing combined with the first rage room package is $64.99, and $99.99 with the second rage room package.
At the axe club’s second location in Palm Springs, visitors of a range of ages have smashed items inside the rage room, Michaelson said.
“I’ve had a 15-year-old kid come out of there, look at his mom and say, “Mom, this is the best day of my life,’” he said.
Michaelson said he anticipates the new rage room will have the same effect in Santa Barbara—and draw locals back to downtown.
“If you work in the industry on State Street,” he said, “come on by.”
