The Metal Church is many things in one. Based in Stanford, Il, it's only about a 15 minute drive west out of Bloomington. Shows aren't setup here as frequent as they use to be in 2009, but when they are people usually make the drive out. It's an old-school sort of church with a huge roof, inquisitive and inspiring glass panes, hardwood floors, and less than awesome parking. On one side is the bar, which if you setup a show it has to make a certain amount of money and the rest goes to the bands, then the main room is for the bands. It has a stage which is pretty spacious but not overly, and it's not so much a stage as so much a little platform. A really wide open space and little obstructions make this a pretty killer venue for some moving around, but it doesn't have to be all metal! Although, the PA system is not provided so make sure you know someone with the proper equipment. The acoustics in the room are pretty unforgiving, it having a huge roof, little noise dampening, and no carpeting the sound waves bounce everywhere and tend to echo. Drums are drowned out and guitar amps clash together, so you better have some nice rigs and a very powerful PA system so vocals can keep up. It's not just for music shows though, they have regular church services there and it's also rentable for all sorts of purposes. It being a bar with plenty of participants in a little town with heavy music going and smokers doing their thing in the building, you better be ready for a pretty harsh environment. Overall though, anytime a show happens to be setup here, it's always a good turnout and general good time.