Bob Mould at Codfish Hollow
In one word: Incredible!
*Sometimes I am full of words. If this post is too long for email, click “view entire message” at the bottom to see the rest of the post.
Codfish Hollow Barnstormers is a magical musical place in the middle of a farm in Maquoketa, Iowa. Basically, in the middle of nowhere.
You drive on rural gravel roads to get there, and you want to be sure to write down directions because cell/GPS reception is spotty at best. You also want to have your tickets printed out, or have a photo of them saved, because you won’t be able to pull them up on your phone to get in otherwise (be sure to buy your tickets from the venue’s site). Also, it’s pretty much cash only. They have an ATM, but also the spotty reception.
Parking is in a huge field, where you can also camp for free the night of a show. From the parking field to the farm, they used to do a hayride, but after a few drunken after-show incidents, they now have a short bus that runs back and forth between the barn and the field. These things really just make it a whole experience.
When you get to the farm, there’s a check-in area, a line of Porta-Johns on one side, and a nice spacious hill of a lawn on the other side where you can set up lawn chairs and spread out blankets to enjoy the show under the stars. People bring their whole family out. There are bubbles too! Someone always brings bubbles. Then, after dark, there will usually be a couple of bonfires.
The barn is this cool long barn, which they renovated by adding a stage, merch counters, wiring, and then lining the walls with pews.
Outside of the barn, there is a beer/soda stand and a coffee/hot chocolate stand.
The barn has an open basement floor underneath that houses a bar and space where vendors will set up. There are typically a couple or few food trucks outside in that area as well. It’s like a little valley of activity below.
The entire farm is just gorgeous! Especially at night! I used to love going to shows with lawn seats at Poplar Creek and Tinley Park in the Chicago suburbs in the late 80s and early 90s, but this experience is hands down far superior!
They opened and put on their first show in 2009, and they have hosted some incredible artists! Counting Crows, Norah Jones, Guided by Voices, Dinosaur Jr., Ani DiFranco, etc… Every artist who comes creates a sign that they hang on (or from) the walls of both levels of the barn. The focus is on indie bands/artists, local and national. They accommodate 600 guests, and routinely sell out shows (as of this writing, pretty much all the June shows are sold out or have less than 100 tickets left). *This just in: OMG as I have been sitting here writing, I have been super bummed that The Jayhawks show has been sold out pretty much since they announced, and my best music buddy just messaged me to say he has an extra ticket and invited me!!!! ❤️❤️❤️🤗🤗🤗 Like, I’m pretty sure it was already sold out when I was there back in April to see Bob Mould, and I was sad about it then. Anyway, back to the awesome signage from artists/bands.
While I was looking for a video I know I’ve seen of J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) zipping around the farm on a golf cart, I found this great video (from 7 years ago) that takes you from the hayride to the barn!
Then I remembered the video of J Mascis was on their Facebook page. If you have Facebook, click the link and check it out because it’s pretty great!
I tried three years in a row to get tickets to Dinosaur Jr, but that wasn’t in the cards as they always sold out very quickly. I also tried for two years to get tickets to see Ani DiFranco. Thankfully, a couple of years ago, she played two nights, and I was able to snag tickets for me and my two sisters! That show was amazing!
Above is a video I took at the Ani DiFranco show on 8/10/2022. (Apparently, you can’t do captions for videos?)
They are obviously a seasonal venue (though they have been known to do basement shows in their home during the winter), putting on shows from April through October.
I was very fortunate to be there on Tuesday, 4/15/2025, for their season opener, to see Bob Mould! My best music buddy messaged me as soon as it was announced, and said he would grab me a ticket. The show ended up selling out fairly quickly.
I had never seen Bob Mould live before, and I was super excited! I was a fan of Hüsker Dü back in the day, and had bought Mould’s first solo album, Workbook, in 1989.
Bob Mould was in Hüsker Dü from 1983-1987, then solo until 1992.
Then from 1992-1995 he was in the band Sugar (I just recently found this out through reading other people’s music stacks! I never knew of them back in the 90s, but remedied that situation while prepping to see Bob Mould.)
And after Sugar, back to a solo career with his most recent album, Here We Go Crazy, being released at the beginning of this year! If you haven’t heard it, it’s fantastic!
He’s been prolific! And pretty amazing! I spent the week before the show listening to Hüsker Dü, Sugar, and his solo stuff, and was completely jazzed about going! I found out the day before the show that my youngest sister was also going with one of her friends! So, we met up a few times during the show. (And now, I’m going to have to message her to see if she’s going to The Jayhawks on Thursday).
It ended up cold that day (low 40s, which was better than the mid-30s that was predicted days before), so we planned on getting there just at showtime vs doors. If the weather is decent, you definitely want to get there at door time to hang and visit the vendors and food trucks before the show - as well as stake out a good lawn spot (or barn spot) right away. When I was there for Ani DiFranco, it was August and warm. I had no problems weaseling my way to mid-barn. With it being 40 degrees in April, the barn was packed solid for Bob Mould! There was no squeezing through to get closer.
Regardless of the artist, you can hear just fine from the lawn or anywhere outside of the barn. But, just after he got the tickets, my best music buddy, who is a very frequent concert goer, and has seen Bob Mould multiple times, warned me that Bob Mould has been the loudest concert he’s ever been to. He was not wrong. You could feel the music pulsing through the lawn.
Here is a piece of “Here We Go Crazy:”
It was super loud way at the back of the barn, so this was a time when I didn’t mind not being able to get up closer. Aside from the major decibels, Mould’s energy was incredible! He attacked his last song with the same energy as his first. And it was a long set! He played 27 songs! The last four being high-energy Hüsker Dü bangers! The whole set was everything you want from a concert! When the artists are passionate about their music, it comes out through their performance, and I can’t say enough about how amazing Mould was!
He’s still on tour and has dates listed through November, so if he’s coming anywhere near you, don’t miss out.
Here is another short clip towards the end of the night:
And if you live anywhere within driving distance to Maquoketa, Iowa, absolutely check out Codfish Hollow Barnstormers. It’s seriously the best all-around concert experience.
This is fantastic! Sold out shows are the bane of my life. So glad you could make this happen!
That place looks and sounds awesome, I'd love to play there! At the very least, maybe I'll get to catch a show there sometime. I used to play at a place here that was waaaaaayyyy out in the woods off a gravel road. You'd be driving and there it would be, like it just came out of the mists.