Yahoo Movies How this Sacramento ‘rage room’ helps release frustration one bat swing at a time
Army veteran David Messier opened Smash Sacramento in 2018 with the idea it would appeal to men. What happened? The majority of his clientele is female – women book 30-minute sessions to swing baseball bats to their favorite songs while dressed in safety goggles, gloves, hats and jumpsuits.
“It was very eye-opening to us when we first opened because we thought for sure it would be a bunch of dudes,” Messier said of the ‘rage room’ in Carmichael dedicated to the destruction of glass and hardware without the hassle of cleaning up. The venue, he added, was “very much so a women-driven kind of activity.”
So when Messier’s business began to attract more people than it could physically hold, his partner Breanna Wilkie continued to manage the original location and he opened a much larger rage room in downtown Sacramento in 2020 with an attraction for male customers: a five-lane ax-throwing section, which soon proved to be just as thrilling to his female customers.
Originally founded by Messier shortly after the death of his wife, the rage room was designed to allow customers to physically express themselves when words just didn’t work. Now Wilkie welcomes parties as large as 15 people at the Carmichael location while Messier takes groups as large as 20 eager to release pent-up anger.
“If men do come in, they’re typically brought in by a woman,” Wilkie said. “We have a lot of things in terms of birthday parties, bachelorette parties, divorce parties, things like that so I feel like it’s definitely a big attraction for women and breakups.”
With suppliers throughout the city, both Smash Sacramento locations receive four 48-inch tall boxes filled with car windshields, bottles, small plates and electronics twice a week. At the downtown location, speakers are playing at full volume and the 3, 200 square foot ‘rage room’ is tagged with works from a mix of beginner and advanced Sacramento-based graffiti artists giving the entire venue an urban modern feel.
“When you walk in, you’ll hear people throwing axes, people laughing having a good time and then of course the great sound of glass breaking teed off with a baseball bat. It has a very nice sound to it, it sounds like it should be happening,” Messier said.
Alyssa Lester said Smash Sacramento was on her summer bucket list. She and a group of friends visited the downtown location in April and, by the end of their 30-minute session, she was hot, sore and tired.
“It’s funny because I’m not really an angry person, I’m not the type of person to punch a wall or (put) a hole in something or anything like but just going was a lot of fun,” Lester said. “You don’t realize how much pent-up frustration you have until you go.”
Smash Sacramento has partnered with the Wounded Warriors Project, Sacramento Sheriff’s Department and local communities within the area in need of an outlet.
Smash Sacramento offers $20 to $40 packages to parties up to 20 people depending on the location. Each session comes with smashing equipment, safety gear and items to smash.
“I believe there is still a physical aspect of your anger and your frustrations outside of talking,” Messier said. “So if you have a safe environment where you can do that and not have to worry about getting injured ... you don’t have to worry about being looked at as that crazy person breaking things.”
IF YOU GO
Carmichael location
5839 Manzanita Ave., suite #11, Carmichael
Contact: (916) 913-1418
Hours: Monday through Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Downtown Sacramento location
600 Broadway, Suite D, Sacramento
Contact: (916) 594-9657
Hours: Tuesday to Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
