At the bottom of the stairs, you enter a large, L-shaped room lit only by stage lights, a brick wall evenly spaced with overhead lamps, and two strips of white Christmas lights on the ceiling that lead you right to the bar. Around the corner to your left is the stage – the focal point of the Yacht Club. The basement bar is the type of place you would expect to be loud, dirty and smoky.

It certainly is loud. Live music bellows from the stage six nights a week, but the Yacht Club’s sound system makes the acoustics clean and sharp. Kading said keeping the bar clean is a priority, and because the new ventilation system filters smoke from the air, the only aroma in the air is the sweet smell of barbecue.

“From a live music perspective, we’re the only nice, clean, dark place that has real good music and real good food,” Kading said. “We work hard on keeping it clean and keeping it nice, and other than that, having as much fun as possible. That’s the most important thing.”

The Yacht Club’s fun attracts an older crowd – mostly Iowa City locals, older college students and graduate students – Kading said, which helps avoid underage drinking problems common at other downtown bars. Although the bar’s age minimum is 19, patrons must show wristbands given only to 21-year-olds in order to be served.

While Kading says he keeps his drink prices slightly lower than many other downtown bars, he relies on his live music, rather than drink specials, to attract customers.

“There’s a lot of places to go if you want to drink super cheap,” Kading said. “There’s not many places with live music downtown. People come to the Yacht Club for the music environment, so we don’t really need drink specials.”

In fact, Kading insists the Yacht Club is more than just a financial endeavor. A segment on the Yacht Club’s Web site, www.iowacityyachtclub.com, reads: “We are here for your fun – plain and simple.” If at the end of the night you had fun, Kading considers it a win.