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…