Island Park Boathouse

From The Secret History of the Cedar Valley

Also known as "The Boathouse", "The Beach House", "The Cedar Falls Beach House"

History

The Boathouse is maintained by the Cedar Falls Recreation Division and is available for rent from May to October. It became a popular venue for all-ages punk rock shows, though its one drawback was that rental times ended early so shows had to be over by 9 or 10 pm.

It was best known as the location of the legendary Black Flag show in June of 1986. Black Flag, the pioneering hardcore punk band from LA, led by Henry Rollins and Greg Ginn, played one of their last shows together here with other SST bands Gone and Painted Willie. It was one of the biggest punk shows in CF history, with a crowd of 300-400. The show was a result of show promoter Chris Kenline, who convinced SST records to put the show on the tour. It began a long and successful run of punk shows featuring SST and other California-based bands in Cedar Falls by Chris Kenline and That's All Right Productions.

Notable Shows

1986

June 19 - Black Flag (Los Angeles), Gone, Painted Willie (all bands on SST Records)

1988

June 10 - Voodoo Gearshift (Des Moines), House of Large Sizes, Stone Wakening, Side Q Concept, Cynical Young Skins
July 15 - Voodoo Gearshift (Des Moines), Xenoglossia (Iowa City), Sorry Excuse, Looney Tunez
Aug 20 - The Libido Boyz (Mankato MN), Sorry Excuse, Looney Tunez

1990

July 2 - Green Day, Stench, Mustard Seed (Iowa City), Gear Head. Sara, Denise, and Maggie got hold of GreenDay by calling the phone # on an Isocracy song. BillieJo showed up with only one shoe, Jason Hartman drove him all over cedar Falls and Waterloo to buy a pair of Chucks.

1999

August 11 - The Vidablue, Long Live Nothing, Full Caste Crown. (According to tVB's Bob Adams, not a single person attended.)

2001

June 29 - The Sno-Mans, The Eggnogs, The International Playboys

2002

May 12 - The Clark Kents, House Arrest, Infandous, The Impossible Sit-Up, Diatribe, Neeto Torpedo

2004

Aug. 8 - Marcato, A is Jump, Old Scratch Revival Singers, Safie, United Styles, House Arrest, The Mittens, The Clark Kents, Local Vengeance, Conspiracy, Prevail, Imaginary Enemies, Broken Arms, Ross Schupbach, Alexander Cole, Police Cops

2006

May 12 - Betrayal Beneath Us, The Emblem, Knuckle Sandwich, Take Control

Flyers

Black Flag, Painted Willie, Gone 6/86	Voodoo Gearshift (Des Moines), House of Large Sizes, Stone Wakening, Side Q Concept, Cynical Young Skins 6/88	Voodoo Gearshift (Des Moines), House of Large Sizes, Stone Wakening, Side Q Concept, Cynical Young Skins 6/88	Voodoo Gearshift (Des Moines), Xenoglossia (Iowa City), Sorry Excuse, Looney Tunez 7/88
The Libido Boyz (Mankato MN), Sorry Excuse, Looney Tunez 8/88	Arab on Radar, The Pee Pees, No Consensus, Mondale Late '90s	The Sno-Mans, The Eggnogs, The International Playboys 6/29	The Clark Kents, House Arrest, Infandous, The Impossible Sit-up, Diatribe, Neeto Torpedo 5/02
Marcato, A is Jump, Old Scratch Revival Singers, Safie, United Styles, House Arrest, The Mittens, The Clark Kents, Local Vengeance, Conspiracy, Prevail, Imaginary Enemies, Broken Arms, Ross Schupbach, Alexander Cole, Police Cops 8/04	Betrayal Beneath Us, The Emblem, Knuckle Sandwich, Take Control 9/06