What an absolute trash venue! It wasn't very busy at open, and most of the people who showed up were there to see Nora En Pure. The first opener was Evan B Drama and he played good house music, perfect for opening for Nora. I jokingly said to my girlfriend, "I hope it doesn't go downhill from here because this is great." But it DID go downhill. Landslide, avalanche downhill. The second opener was crappy EDM. It drew in a bunch of people from the street who came to get high and drunk. The last opener was worse. We went from a good house music DJ to mediocre EDM to absolute garbage. It was TERRIBLE. The crowd was packed but everyone looked bored. Cue NEP taking the stage and this is where I realized this is absolutely the worst venue I've ever been to. People were shoving into us constantly. One man kept bumping up behind me, and I finally had to throw an elbow to keep him from touching me. A few minutes later, two jerks (I can't even call them men because they weren't) completely shoved my girlfriend and I and stood in front of us. Mind you, I was already about stepping on the guy in front of me, so when these guys pushed their way in front of us, I was literally against him. I said, "excuse me" and asked him to keep moving but he ignored me. I couldn't move, AT ALL, because he literally had jammed me against the people behind me.. My girlfriend had a word with the other jerk he was with, who played dumb. This wasn't "moving through the crowd." These two guys literally came up behind us both and forcefully pushed us. In the end, I ducked around the one and wedged myself between him and the other couple that we were dancing with and continued dancing. My girlfriend did the same. But the one guy continued to stare at us both and stand next to her to the point it got uncomfortable and borderline harassing. I also noticed there was a ledge on the side of the stage. At first I thought it was so people could sit, but nope, no sitting. If you're not actively dancing, they'll tell you to move. There was a group of girls dancing for a solid hour and the one moment the girl sat down to reply to a text, the bouncer told her to move. Just an observation but once it got filled up, the entire ledge was nothing but skimpy dressed white college girls drunk dancing. And that's the issue with this place. This was a Nora show. That equals good music, dancing, and class. The clientele they let in ruins the experience for everyone else wanting to experience the actual artists. One guy was snorting coke right beside me, less than 5ft from the bouncer, and invading other peoples space inappropriately. People said stuff to him but he was oblivious and staff did nothing. We were less than 5 ft from the bouncer when the two jerks pushed us, and nothing. For our safety, we ended up moving through the crowd to the back of the venue. And in doing so, I'm pretty sure the venue was over capacity. It wasn't just crowded, it was like sardines in a can. It almost would have been easier to crawl through people's legs to get out. Once we got to the back, we stood near the VIP section, which is garbage. Why is the VIP section at the back? Why is it so small? Why is there no one monitoring who goes up there? VIP should feel like something special. You can't just build a platform 8" off the floor and throw a couch down and call it VIP. I'd have been pissed if I had paid for VIP. Also, the view was terrible. You're barely over everyone else. I watched as people went up to the VIP section, aka climbed one stair, and realized the view wasn't any better. Also, why is it that they had a spotlight on all the opening acts, but when Nora took the stage she was completely blacked out? We were less than 5 ft from her and couldn't even get a good shot. Any video you're seeing on their IG page is from their photographer because they were right up there in her face. Also, the volume for the opening acts was loud but reasonable. If you didn't have earplugs it was still comfortable. But when Nora took the stage, they exponentially blasted the volume to where if you were anywhere in the first 20 ft you couldn't even tell what was being played. It actually made me dizzy it was so deafening. What really topped the cake was that I ordered two bottles of water during the show. The total was $6.50, and I signed my receipt for the same. But I woke up the next morning to a credit card charge that was made at 2:50am. The venue closes at 2am. Which means one of the bartenders decided to help themselves to a tip. If you get nothing else from this review, know this: THEY MAKE A HABIT OF FRAUDULENTLY CHARGING CARDS AFTER THE FACT. This is all over their google reviews and I wish I had seen it earlier. Bring cash, but also, protect your money and valuable and phone too because apparently there is a high theft issue here as well. Overall, just AVOID THIS PLACE. I don't care if my favorite artist was playing at Alchemy. I'd never go here again. It's not worth my safety. read more