Awesome place to hang out. Friendly staff & excellent service. Great variety of events & large space. Really enjoyed Dirty Talk band! Sound quality downstairs was superb. Highly recommend!

Great venue setup! Great sound and staff! Floors have been renovated. Super clean

This place is great for a night out to hear some good music. There is a great food menu to pick from if you get hungry, and amazing Staff! It’s great how many different bands perform at The Forge and it’s always a fabulous time when I go.

Horrible customer service. I purchased concert tickets but the concert was cancelled due to covid! I called many times no answer.. and contacted ticket web and requested a refund. Ticketweb told me it would take 30-60 day’s for my refund and i still have not received my refund or any kind of response back from the venue. It’s been almost 3 months. Just horrible and disappointed with this venue.

Great times,love the loudness of the band. Sounds great!.

I drove 2 hours to get here for two shows last year and already have tickets for two more this year. Clean, updated place, great sound, nice bars and bathrooms. It sucks that the building layout has the pillars on the floor and on the stage but the bands make it work. I love the small intimate venues like this.

Very nice venue, best green room, Ive ever seen!!

Cool music venue in downtown Joliet. Good times

Next to Eternity was fantastic! This venue was perfect for a live show. Drinks were a little pricey. I had a Malibu and pineapple which cost me $8.50 for a small cup with lots of ice. They dont make frozen blended drinks, I really wanted a frozen strawberry margarita. We had a soft pretzel, loaded cheese fries and chicken wings. The food was pretty good considering it was bar food! The wait staff was on point, and the bar tenders were super friendly. The sound inside was great! I would definitely come back to this venue again.

Great little concert hall!! Upclose and personal!! Love it!! Stay heavy my friends!!

I saw Jelly Roll and Struggle Jennings perform here and I must say that it was one of the best performances Ive seen. The venue was perfect in size and the staff that were on the floor and behind the bar kept the patrons happy and the lines moving extremely well. I saw a well put together team of employees that are attentive and most accommodating. I work in the hospitality industry so these are things that keep me a lifelong customer.

Love it for small shows close to home. Gets very crowded quickly, get there early. Good light and sound system. Upstairs has a quieter bar that most overlook.

Place is awesome! Perfect venue for joliet! Great talent and up and comers... see them here before you see them Blow Up To Stardom.... cool casual.. Peaceful.

Great place for a show. Machine Head absolutely destroyed this place last Saturday. Bar is in the back and is big and long with little wait, also a side bar right next to the smokers section outside. Bathrooms are small but you get in and out quick. Everything was awesome about this place

Cool venue, free street parking. Coat check was great. Theres huge pillars on the floor that block some of the stage from different angles. Bars had quick service and bathroom was clean.

I enjoyed myself even though the crowd was definitely not my age group. Was there to see a friends son and nephews perform also a friend. They rocked it. There was some great potential up there in my opinion.

Love what they have done with the place and the bands they are getting to play here.

Really good production for live shows. Food is good, bit pricey, but good.

Been coming to this place since back when it was Mojoes. The building itself never fails to help the bands put on a great show. The forge has done some great things to one of my favorite places for shows.

Review based strictly upon the venue itself; the food and drink is a bit pricey, but it could have been due to the fact the facility was hosting a concert. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere that The Forge provided when I saw Marianas Trench last night.The sound is crisp and heavy with bass without breaking your head (props to the sound crew!) with lighting that varies greatly and is cleanly and precisely executed (props to the lighting crew!). The space is intimate with a general area in front of the stage including a balcony area that offers those that prefer sitting to standing.The bathrooms (at least for the Mens lavatory) are perfectly spacious as well as clean! There is a bar both up and downstairs that offer meals and appetizers in their amenities and the balcony area offers a commanding view of the stage from nearly any angle.If you feel like relaxing you can trade a stool from the balcony railing for an area on the open couches that line the walls upstairs without missing the performance as they have monitors showing you whats happening on stage in real-time (genius).Above all though, the staff are absolutely superlative! Not only are the security friendly and willing to help you out, but the same goes with the bartenders. They are all hospitable and aim to help you accomplish what you set out to do for the evening, to have an extraordinary time!!

They dont have many bands I like but the ones they do have its, one of the best venues in the area.

Lower level (cheapest price tickets) seating is definitely not the greatest due to the cheap folding chairs used. Not comfortable in the slightest.Upper level (highest priced tickets) are actually the best for comfortable seating and better views of stage.Food is actually pretty decent for bar food. The food prices are actually pretty decent as well.Bars on both levels, though draft beers available only on lower level.Bathrooms also available on both levels.No in-and-out access even for a second. Once you enter, you will need to pay admission again to re-enter.

Friendly staff, food available, drink prices as expected. Wait staff will bring you drinks in the pit, which is awesome. Very, very, very disappointed in sound quality of main act!

I enjoy coming to this venue for the number of heavy rock bands they book. Glad to see the place doing well. Food and drinks are a little pricey, but that is to be expected.

Fantastic spot to buy some food when in a rush. Their service is fast, pricing is convenient, awesome character. Keep up the good work

Ive been to this venue close to ten times now and am definitely a fan. While there isnt a parking structure or lot attach d to the building, there is one on the adjacent block, and its cheap too, usually about $3 or sometimes free (depending on what time youre there). This place has great accoustics and most of the bands Ive seen there sound really good. They do support phone scanning of tickets, even though the email that you will receive says that you must print them.

Great place to see live concerts. I have been to this place several times, under several names, and enjoy that they bring these hard rock bands to the area. However, I do think the price of drinks was highway robbery. $8 for a well vodka mixed drink in a 12oz cup with ice? I guess thats the price you pay when coming from a smaller town. We also had a 40 minute wait when we ordered appetizers for food. We were patient, but still a little long of a wait for nachos.. So, to sum things up as honest as I can be, I can totally recommend this as a concert venue, but go to get up on the rail and enjoy the shows! And if you do decide to dine and drink, please have patience and extra cash!

Great place many concerts for all crowds of many kind .great place to meet and socialize! Ive always loved this place for concerts and I live super close

This is an AWESOME metal venue! They did this place right! The PA is top notch, the lighting rig is incredible. Great food and drinks. Security is hip to what is and isnt appropriate at a metal show. The Forge should open a second location in the city to put House of Blues out of business!

Great sound and plenty of space. Good place to see good bands up close and personal.

Good, intimate venue for Machine Heads sold out final tour. Parking facility one block away had plenty of free parking. Juliets across the street had fantastic pre-show bar food (we had the sausage and peppers and bacon-wrapped dates ) The Forge Baristas were very responsive and cycled throughout the evening. Security had a strong presence as well. Upstairs, there is available bench seating around the perimeter and stools at the balcony which made watching the concert more enjoyable for many who viewed from above. All in all, a good place to host a metal show.

The place was awesome. And the two bars really helped speed up the wait. Bone Thugz killed it. Highly reccomend this place

Had issues with the information on the pre-purchased tickets which had the doors open at 6:30pm; which they didnt. Call ahead if this matters to you. Otherwise, the place was descent, friendly staff, a lot of places with a great view of the stage.

They offer food as well as drink! Thats a big bonus if you are a person that frequents shows. They are a decent size so it didnt feel crammed and I like that they had tables to sit at if you didnt want to stand. The sound was great as well. I had a great time!

Awesome concert venue. Too bad its in Joliet.

I love the venue but CHANGE THE FLOORS! Youre going to have people moshing and to have the danger of slippery floors is terribly irresponsible - we saw someone being carried away by EMT after slipping.That being said, good pricing, good sound.

Great place! Krystal is an amazing bartender and the drink specials are on point.

Used to be good but they reduced their food menu down to the bare bones and increased prices and doubled their drink prices. A bottle of Miller Lite is now 8 dollars. Thats right....8 freaking dollars for a domestic beer. I heard they are under new ownership...

Seating well there is none and they allow people to smoke by the entrance with the door open it smells like a smoking bar they need to update this place great bands though

Saw pop evil here last week. Great venue. Good drinks. great place

Bartenders were amazing drinks were well priced, honestly I went there to listen to my friends band and they were super helpful. Would recommend

Its so cool! The atmosphere is amazing and its still clean while being edgy.

Friendly service and great sound!

Cool place. You will love the vibe for what you go there for

Great staff, great shows. Known for there night life for a reason. Great Italian restaurant across the street. Easy to find. Light show was amazing, and very up close and personal setting, with a big stage for the artist to enjoy

Loved this place. Small venue with general admission standing on the floor. Great views from the balcony

Always enjoy the forge and hairbangers ball

The Forge was great .Very professional. The bartenders were great cant wait to go back

Here as I type........I am ONLY here to support a performer and will NEVER Patronize this place again! I can see exactly why this place isn’t packed with people.The security here is COMPLETELY unprofessional. To excuse me of giving my ticket that I purchase online to another individual and trying to use it a second time WITHOUT any proof was just wrong. And to try to feed me a story of how someone else copied 10 tickets to get in at another time and how they have to work here all the time, how the guy I’m trying to Challenge about my ticket is a cop and is going to be piss all night and sound more to me like a form of intimidation and a threat. Which did NOT Deferred me from calling the police. The police did show up but was not that much help and Unfortunately the lady son that I’m here to see had to replace my ticket, which she shouldn’t have to do that. This under rated place really needs a better set up than what they have. Not my or anyone else issue that there are some bad apples out there. They even said THEMSELVES this happens a lot. So you would think someone running this place would change up how things are done. Honestly, after tonight I don’t care once AGAIN I will NOT be back (Thank GOD) just want to try help anyone else that may encounter this problem because its a problem. I will be calling whoever I need to about this matter.

The concert here was absolutely amazing. Great sound and awesome stage set up.

It was awsome just needs some more air conditioning

Joliets hidden gem! What an amazing venue.

Great place to go for a show, but $8 for a PBR? Come on guys! Youre brtter than that. That isnt even city prices thats Vegas prices.

Great little concert venue. Been coming here for many years. Even when it changed names a couple of times.

Nice venue...did not see a band but will change that soon

Great spot to get up close to the band. Just wasnt a fan of how many people the kept cramming in there.

Easy to locate. Plenty of close parking. Intimate, well maintained venue.

Its a nice place with nice staff working there. A great place for concerts.

Free parking! Awesome atmosphere especially when there’s artist or VIP Music events!! (reggaeton vs hihop @vipmusicent )

Was very sad to see how people with disabilities are treated. Saw a girl and her blind friend ask if they could wait in th4 venue instead of being shoved up and down flights of stairs. They made her anyways. Then she asked for a seat so she could sit and they gave her a tall stool. She wasnt able to get onto the stool safely so she had to stand instead. Ineas seated on a bench and offered her mine, however I have a disability as well and a seat like that is not workable for me. I was told I could sit against the wall until a spot opened up.

Great mid sized venue. Food isnt bad for the price.

Took my daughter here for G Herbo concert..

Place sounds great

Unorganized. Bought a vip package with early entry, first security guard said line was outside. They had us waiting outside in the cold rain. Then another security guy said no we were supposed to be in the sapphire room. Went to the sapphire room it was packed with general admission and vips. There ended up being two lines to get in to the venue. VIP never got early entry waste of money.

Cool place to see a show. But having physical limitations, I just wish there were more seating opportunities.

One of the best music venues in Illinois. Came out from Michigan just for the show and would definitely do it again.

Only downside about this place is its located in Joliet! Coming from Chicago, thats a hike.Great sound, easy parking. Would come back if the bands were awesome again. (Obituary + Abbath+ midnight were great!)

Was here for Magic Mike Night had a great time.

Great sound system! Very spacious and accommodating

Cool venue

The Forge is one of the best music venues I have visited in the Chicago area. Very clean, courteous service. The security staff are friendly, the wait staff is top notch. The food is very good. I had the burger and fries, I am a picky eater and I can tell you it was one of the best burgers I ever had. With the mirrors over the bar, you can sit at the bar, eat your meal and not miss any action on stage. Its a very safe venue, the security staff make their presence known. Great experience. One word to describe this place: Professional

Nice venue nice doorman. Bathrooms could be bigger.

The reason for my 5 Star review is because The Forge and its management team have proven they are committed to the arts, especially to young musicians. Every month The Forge hosts a group called The 815. The 815 is comprised of Joliet area youth (primarily vocalists). The vocalists perform a wide variety of songs and are accompanied by other young musicians. This is an incredible opportunity for young musicians to hone their skills and share their passion.This is a live music venue. It has multiple performance areas. The first floor has a main stage and the second floor has a smaller stage. Food and drink are available and they have a full bar as well.We have eaten the food on several occasions and Incan say we have been quite surprised with the quality of the food that comes from the kitchen. The burgers are good as well as the pizza. The staff is awesome and very supportive of young performers.While we have not attended a ticketed show, I can imagine it would be a good place to see a band. There always seems to be a decent sized crowd that attends their shows (we have driven by on various nights and seenong lines to go in). Its a small venue, but looks like it would be fun to go to.

The show was awesome. King Iso and Kali never disappoint me! I swear Kali is only gettin better! Strange 4 life

My ears are bleeding, and for gahds sakes, WHY would you line the entire upstairs deck with bar stools? Knock it off. However, it was an amazing time!

Ive only seen 1 show here but the sound was good. You cant get much more up close hell the lead singer came out and signed tshirts after the show.

Great little concert place perfect size where there is still a good size croud but not too claustrophobic. Saw Mushroomhead and the stage was perfect and you could see all of the performance perfectly from just about anywhere in the building. I would definitely recommend seeing a show here if they have one that youre interested in. The neighborhood is also pretty safe and not too sketchy. Tho most of the parking near the venue is quarter meter parking

Really great local venue that has been getting a lot of bands I like to come through and play here. I dont buy food or drinks while there so no comment on that. Can be rowdy in there sometimes but thats on the people that come but security has always been on the ball. Free parking can be found around the area if you look.

My second home. Has great sound and lighting. Food is great too!!

Always a blast. Great place shows

This venue oversells and crams as many people in as possible. If youre looking to actually see a show and enjoy it then go elsewhere. If youre looking to not be able to see s*** well being crammed against others and unable to move then youll love it.

Small venue, but close to home, good parking options, adult beverages and food available.

This venue hosts great events! Law enforcement was on hand to ensure everyone was able to enjoy the celebration safely. The “Sign To the Streets Tour featuring Lil Durk, King Von, Lil Tay and Yung Free, did not disappoint!

Great place for shows. Parking in the garage nearby is nice but street parking can be difficult. Crowd was pretty well behaved and the staff was doing a great job of keeping up with everything. I would recommend hitting shows here instead of going to Chicago.

Great Place To See Some Rock N Roll

Friendly, clean, and minimum security and they have clown love and welcome anyone with face paint and was treated like family.

Love coming here, its always a great time!

Great love music venue! Been here for two concert lineups and both were great. Good sound and space for bands to perform.

Good place. Great music most times. Bar prices arent bad. Plenty of standing room, not much sitting room unless you pay balcony price. You can pay cash at the door for most shows. Wear extra layers in the winter. Rock on!

Place was clean, staff is friendly, and sound was good. Its a small venue but good.

Great venue...good staff...nice atmosphere...Will come back!!!

Small but not a bad spot in the house!! Killer sound soulfly killed it!!

The bands and staff were great

Great hospitality, security and best of all #WARMusic!!!

Best time.of my life

Good Food Good service small but seems way big

Great venue with lots of parking nearby. Wish there wasnt a minimum charge amount for credit/debit cards though

Friendly staff. Small venue which provided great acoustics. They serve food. Awesome spot for metal shows. If you are into live music and your favorite band is playing here, you will not be disappointed. Place is not pretentious or up scale. Just the way you would want it for some good ol rock n roll music.

I hate bars and never want to go to them, but this is by far one of my favorite places to go. Staff is always great, food is amazing. Drinks are a bit pricey, but make up for it with the atmosphere and food.

Ran by a crew that gets it done! Love this place!