(KFMW/Ned)
It’s a bummer that I have to write this, but I think I can finally muster up the confidence for it.
Usually when I write an ‘ode to’ blog…it’s cause of a business that’s no longer around or some kind of activity, but this one is more recent in life and for concert goers in Eastern Iowa, a legacy that we still talk about today.
Spicoli’s Reverb….or as some of you may know, The Reverb.
7-ish years ago when my wife and I were talking about taking this job at Rock 108, we asked….what is there to do in Iowa? For Katie and I….CONCERTS….WE THRIVE for concerts…it’s our thing we like to do. The first thing we looked up, WHERE in Iowa (Waterloo specifically) do you see concerts at? And it didn’t take long on Google to find this place called Spicoli’s where they hosted bands like Flyleaf, Mushroomhead, Hed PE, local metal and rock, etc….once we saw that? It sold us on the area…that was the straw that broke the camels back.
We packed up and moved to Iowa, and I remember sitting in our apartment alone one night a few weeks in and heard that Avatar was a Spicoli’s that night and I thought, ‘Oh man….new place, new people, I’m not gonna go.’ I CHICKENED OUT, and I still regret that.
Eventually Katie and I mustered up and said ‘Alright, let’s go try this place out’ and there wasn’t a show that night. I had been on Rock 108 for a couple months already so my name was kinda getting out there, and we walked in, sat down, ordered a beer, and then a bartender named Dave said, ‘Hey you’re Ned from Rock 108 aren’t you?’ Little did I know, this blossomed into a friendship and Spicoli’s became our Cheers! I’d walk in, a can of Guinness would instantly go into my hand, Iowa started to become home.
I’d see bands like Dope, Highly Suspect, Pop Evil, Mushroomhead, Motograter, even freakin’ Corey Feldman! It was THE PLACE to be if you were a rock/metal concert fanatic….and? It had the atmosphere of dark, beer signs, stage, outdoor area, it was just a fun place to be. There was a time where I was probably there every week…then there was a time they got arcade machines installed! HOW PERFECT was the night that Dope came to town, played their reunion tour, and once the band was done I went and played House of the Dead? IT CAN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT MAN! Metal/Rock + Video Games +Beer + Friends…..just excellent. I’d see Powerman 5000, Drowning Pool, Orgy, Royal Bliss, Wayland…just AHH man!
Then it happened, 2020…COVID where just everything shut down…no bands were touring, no one could be open, and for a place like that? It was a real struggle…we tried our best to support by buying food to go and such, but at the end of the day? A bar needs to stay open to stay in business….and sadly, it succumbed to the pressure.
When Spicoli’s died out, a BIG part of me did too…sure there are plenty of places still booking bands in Iowa, but they are hours away. Also during COVID a big lifestyle change, I became a family guy! Even if Spicoli’s was still around, it would be difficult to find those nights to go enjoy…but that’s what happens, life changes when kids come to the picture, and I’m 100% ok with that.
Not ALL is lost though, there are places in the Cedar Valley like The Loft, Octopus, and even Electric Park Ballroom on occasion….but….they ain’t Spicoli’s ya know? It’s hard to replicate that.
There is no doubt history and good memories that place left for a lot of us concert goers and regulars at that bar. I may had not been around for the early days of it, but I sure enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
Here is hoping that someone will take up the torch again.
