Local show promoters have been running DIY music venues for decades, at least since the beginnings of the band 7 Seconds in 1980. A pizza place in Sparks is one of the latest spaces to keep up this long-standing tradition.
The Pizzava at 670 E. Prater Way started hosting shows in November 2024 with its then-delivery driver, Jude Watson, as the booker and organizer. Even though he switched jobs and has been an assistant manager at Floorcraft since May 2025, Watson continues to bring bands to Pizzava—and not just punk ones.
“We’ll take whatever, genre-wise,” he said during an interview at Pizzava. “We don’t discriminate for sure. We’re not like a hardcore-only venue or anything like that, but a lot of punk stuff does come through here. Now and again, we get an indie-rock show, or we have a ska and reggae DJ night last March, which was really interesting.
“It’s just pure coincidence that a lot of what we book is punk stuff, but I’m not complaining because I love that. I love DIY music, any and all.”
Building momentum
The idea came to Watson in the summer of 2024, during a trip up to the Clock-Out Lounge in Seattle to see the Canadian post-punk/hardcore band Life in Vacuum.
“At the Clock-Out, during the day, they run a pizza joint in that space,” Watson said. “And at night, they have a section in the (show) spot that sells slices.”
Watson saw that Pizzava had a similar setup—an order counter separate from the dining area. “If I could sway management, we could do shows there, if we could just clear everything out of the dining space and put that stuff somewhere,” he said.
So, he and his friends in his own punk band Ignoramus—Wyatt Kretchman and Russell Hatzi—brought in the band’s PA system to Pizzava and hosted the first show there in November with a trio of Reno-Sparks bands: Caelum, Reeking Slug and Violent Crime. They charged $5 at the door and $3 for a pizza slice. Watson said the show drew about 40 people.
Two months later, he heard from a local DIY booker named Corey Gyll, who is also in the bands Buckaroo and Uncalled For. He wanted to book a group from San Luis Obispo, Calif., named Typewriter and four more locals, including the popular punk band Pissmixer.
“This was Pissmixer’s first show back after a long, long time, and I’m super grateful that we were able to have them here for their comeback shows,” Watson said. Around 90 people showed up that night, he said.
Momentum duly built, Watson and his helpers have continued to book at the Sparks Pizzava, also now known as “Pizzava Showspace.” Bands contact him directly, and promoters in town ask for time on the schedule—among them Nate Strange at Outside Eye Productions, Chimpfanzine and Slimewall. Those latter two book shows in lots of alternate spaces, including a now-infamous show at the Denny’s in Sparks this past December.
Shows from anywhere and anyone
Larger independent venues such as the Holland Project are also helping Watson put on concerts at Pizzava. One of the most memorable has been a show with Texas hardcore bands L.I.E. and Cable from Houston, for which The Holland Project needed another venue.
Watson said that show drew 150 people. “It was so hot in here, you could see the steam coming from the AC,” he said. “But it was a really great show. It was super energetic and super fun.”
Watson said he has an open booking policy. “They could be friends like ours or damn near perfect strangers,” he said. That—along with the fact that the venue is in Sparks, separate from Midtown or Wells Avenue, where most DIY shows take place—gives this show space its own identity in the DIY music scene.
Apart from the booking, Watson also designs the occasional show flier and does most of the online promotion. He runs the door sometimes and helps run the sound system if needed. He takes no fee, and neither does Pizzava.
“It’s basically free to book,” Watson said. “If a show does really great, then I might take maybe 10 percent of the door, but not to pocket it. I put it in a backup fund, just in case we need more gear or to fix something. But it’s totally not-for-profit and volunteer-run.”
Those volunteers include friends who work the door, and sometimes Watson’s mom, Mandy Colbert, to help move tables.
“I don’t want to take all the credit,” he said. “We would not be here today if not for all the help from my friends and the bands and the people who make the fliers. It’s definitely a collaborative effort from all angles.”
Shannon Tadeo, the owner of Pizzava’s Reno-Sparks locations and Watson’s former boss, said she wanted to encourage Watson to become a show promoter when he pitched the idea to her.
“First of all, Jude is doing a really great job,” she said, “but also, I remember what going to shows was like. I saw one of Jude’s (Ignoramus) shows at Holland, and that gave me nostalgia for where I used to go.
“And, for the show-goers, it’s always good, clean fun. There are never problems, no fights or anything that’s crazy. And the local bands are getting support from the audience, so it’s cool. There’s no reason not to have shows there.”
Upcoming performances at Pizzava Showspace include the all-local benefit for the Undocu-Relief fund at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, featuring Ignoramus Uncalled For, Meat Blanket and Sharps. Tuesday, March 10 will be an all-metal night beginning at 7:30, featuring touring bands Solicitor and Trencher. Visit @pizzava.showspace on Instagram to learn about more upcoming shows and, if your band would like to book a show, to direct message Jude Watson.