After a decade as a pillar of the music scene in Des Moines, Lefty’s Live Music is closing.
“As our tenth year draws to a close and after much consideration, we’ve made the challenging decision to say goodbye before the new year,” co-owners Anne Mathey and Erik Brown said in a social media post on Thursday. “Lefty’s Live Music has been an incredible journey, one full of friendship, magic and music.”
Mathey and Brown started Lefty’s in 2015, after House of Bricks, an East Village music venue where they both worked, closed. The two selected a building near Drake University that had once been home to Hairy Mary’s, bringing live music back to the Drake area.
The building was also once The Safari Club. Slipknot played its first show with lead vocalist Corey Taylor there in August 1997.
The building had been extensively remodeled since its Hairy Mary/Safari Club days, and when Mathey and Brown took over, they wanted to create a club with listeners in mind. Lefty’s was named after Mathey’s much-loved three-legged dog. The rescue pet was a regular at the club, which is, appropriately enough, in Dogtown. Lefty, who started attending shows at House of Bricks after Mathey adopted him in 2008, passed away in 2022 at the age of 15.
Lefty’s grew into an important venue for local bands and as a stop for national, even international, touring acts. In September, avante-pop icon Lene Lovich kicked off her new U.S. tour at Lefty’s.
Mathey and Brown didn’t explain their decision to close Lefty’s in their post on Thursday, or give the date its doors will close for the last time. Instead they focused on thanking their staff, past and present, and all the musicians who have played Lefty’s. They also had a message for the club’s many visitors over the years.
“To all the patrons – be curious and find new art,” Mathey and Brown wrote. “Gather in spaces and connect. Hold each other close. As we did with the passing of our namesake, we will mourn the loss but also celebrate the life. Though we might have unlocked the doors, it was the blood, sweat and tears of the Des Moines music community that breathed life and love into this building.”
