Des Moines, Iowa, alternative magazine on a bar that played punk shows in the 80s

This is an edited version of an article from the alternative magazine, CityView, on the bar, So's Your Mother, that played punk shows in the 80s.

Des Moines Forgotten: 2000 Forest Avenue

By Kristian Day

The original sign for So’s Your Mother that was hung on the corner at 2000 Forest Ave.

The second floor of 2000 Forest Ave. was once the home to two infamous music venues in Des Moines. The first was called So’s Your Mother. The bar opened its doors in the 1970s and was more of a hippie place but eventually transitioned to a punk bar in the 1980s. It was part of the old nightlife in Drake’s Dogtown neighborhood around Forest Avenue and Harding Road (which is now MLK).

Mark Heggen of Des Moines remembers the last show for the band A Testament of Youth on April 27, 1983: “The final gig of ATOY was somewhat infamous for the lead singer doffing his clothes as the set went on, until he was down to a jock strap. One of the Mother’s staff had had enough of him at that point and demanded ‘Put your goddamned clothes back on,’ but it was too late by then, and the farewell set ended with the singer still in the near-altogether.”...

A Testament Of Youth’s final performance at So’s Your Mother on April 27, 1993. Photo by Mark Hegge

(A Husker Du performance) was the center of a tragedy that has never been laid to rest, as it was where Diane Schofield was last seen in 1975. The case is still open today....

From the Husker Du Database

So’s Your Mother transitioned in 1989 into the Laughing Iguana, which was opened by local scene legend Jeff Wright (who went on to open Hairy Marys with John Limke). The venue was the center of a lot of great music with bands like Moveable Feast, House of Large Sizes, and even Smashing Pumpkins, which played the 300-person capacity venue in January of its opening year....

The Laughing Iguana closed its doors, and the building was eventually demolished around 2000.

To read the full article, go here.

Labels: 2000 Forest Ave, 80s, A Testament of Youth, ATOY, Des Moines, Flying Iguana, Husker Du, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, Iowa punk scene, Iowa venues, Midwest venues, music venues, research, So's Your Mother