The Surge, located on 1204 S. Wall in Joplin, has been in business since April 21, 2007, but before that, it was absolute chaos.

The Surge is where Local Chaos, an older venue, once was. The owners of the Surge, Fran and Shane Nickerson, have successfully tried to avoid becoming what Local Chaos became.

“It’s something that should never be,” says Shane. “They really made a bad name for themselves so I don’t want to talk about that, but as far as the evolution of the Surge, I didn’t have control of it back then but now I do.”

Now the Surge is trying to bring a variety of music to the four-state area.

“The Surge wants to bring all genres to all ages,” says Fran. “From 13 year old teenyboppers to 80-year-old folk and country lovers. It’s a place where we don’t discriminate against genre. We have our stages open to everyone.”

The Nickersons thought that several local venues discriminated against genre. They also felt that several talented bands were turned down because of the ages of the band members. They wanted to fix the problems they saw. It has paid off.

“The talent we’ve had on the Surge’s stage has been phenomenal,” says Fran Nickerson. “We’ve had some touring bands and some bands who have been very gracious with their talents. It’s been fun.”

The Surge held a battle of the bands event in September which drew in a crowd of nearly 300, and has decided to host several more events thanks to the battle’s success.

“It was the biggest show we’ve ever had,” says Shane Nickerson. “I would like to thank every band who pulled together to make that so successful.”

The Surge’s next big event will be held on Dec. 6. Any student who shows their student identification at the door will receive free entry for the month of December.

All show dates, booking information, and events will be posted on their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thesurgenightclub.