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| - As far as smaller music venues go, the Garrison is okay. I prefer Lee's Palace which is wide and has that pit, and The Horseshoe which is wider and has more character. The Garrison is just a little too long, narrow and plain to give too solid of a rating.
It's sketchy looking from the outside, so much so that it's a bit tricky to find. When you first walk into the venue you walk into a small room with a bar and a few tables, from there you pass through a door, hand over your ticket and walk into the long concert hall (that you could probably pack no more than 300 people into). At the back is a small bar that serves a full array of drinks including local draft beers for $6.
The sound system here is good, maybe a little too good. I counted 12 concerts I've been to in the last year or so (so my ears are pretty damaged) and this is the first venue in a long time to leave my ears ringing well into the following day.
The walls are bare, black and grungy. There are a few chairs around the outside of the venue, though if you did choose to sit in them you wouldn't be able to see a thing.
The washrooms are small, (understandably) dirty, and right beside the stage. The stage lighting is low and simple.
Overall, not the best place in the city to catch a show, but not a terrible option either.
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