Beaverdale Halloween: Blanket Fort Turns Nostalgia Into Communion
VFW 9127, Beaverdale, Iowa, USA
Set highlights
Lead vocalist, Carissa Kuehl, dressed as Big Daddy’s Vanessa (bright orange shorts and all), owned the room from the jump — onstage and off.
The band’s floor connection clicked all night. Their take on Foo Fighters’ Everlong felt like the evening’s gravity point — unanimous singalong territory.
The spooky roll call (costumes)
Guitar: Dwayne Krpan — gladiator
Drums: Joel Cauterucci — Michael Myers
Bass: Jeff Foertsch — Jeff Hanson from Slap Shot
A sentimental night for the band
After the show, Jeff Foertsch called the VFW performance “sentimental”. He spent time at this very post as a kid, and says it still feels warm and welcoming. He also noted the setlist isn’t nostalgia by algorithm. It’s built from songs that genuinely shaped the band’s lives, shared back with the audience at full volume.
Crowd notes
Positive feedback poured in — not just about the song choices, but about the professionalism and lighting. Even folks who don’t usually camp in ’90s rock territory left impressed.
Who’s steering the fort (booking & promo)
Blanket Fort’s booking is handled by
through Beyond Media Entertainment (BME). BME is a regional band management and booking company — the behind-the-scenes engine that gets talented bands like Blanket Fort on strong bills and promotes those shows to fill the house.
A reluctant end
House staff, led by event coordinator and bar manager Todd Eipperle, kept the upstairs show and the downstairs DJ running smoothly all night. When the crowd demanded more, Blanket Fort closed with No Doubt’s Just A Girl. The room stayed on its feet until the final lyric drifted off Carissa’s mic — nobody was ready for the lights-up goodbye.
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