Dexter and the Moonrocks
June 11, 2026
In May 2025, I posted a TikTok asking for my favorite bands to comment during my flight from New York to Nebraska so that my husband would buy me concert tickets to see their shows. I tagged Dexter and the Moonrocks, who had come on to my radar in July 2024 as one of my favorite bands, and to my surprise they commented! So, when they scheduled a tour stop in Des Moines for June 2026, my husband bought me tickets to travel to see them. My parents and I drove down to Des Moines after work the day of the show and grabbed a bite to eat at The Iowa Taproom. This bar was extremely cool, with a grain bin turned beer tap wall in the middle of the bar. They had hundreds of beers on tap from all over Iowa—in fact that’s all they served was local beers! To eat I had the Peanut Butter Burger which was one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. I would gladly eat here again (and try some of the local beers).
After dinner, we walked over to Wooly’s which is located downtown near the capital building. Wooly’s has a capacity of approximately 680 people and the show was completely sold out. Although it was a sold out show, the line for drinks and the restroom lines stayed manageable. The rest of the venue setup is not my favorite—the floor has much more length that width making the prime viewing areas small. Several support columns and oddly placed bar tops also make standing room awkward. On top of those issues, the venue was extremely warm, which was difficult for a pregnant lady! The merch table was in the back of the venue, right by the entrance, making entering and exiting difficult. We stopped by the merch table for a quick peak before the show. Dexter and the Moonrocks had some pretty cool merch, but I unfortunately had to pass up on getting any. (Although my parents bought me the Donkey Flats vinul for my birthday, which I looooove!)
My parents and I were impressed by the first opening act of the night, High June. They are a younger alternative rock band that had some catchy songs. They were high energy and even though we didn’t know the songs, kept us entertained. After the openers, Dexter and the Moonrocks played an outstanding show. Their setlist was a brilliant mix of new and old songs spanning many of their singles, EPs and albums. My only complaint is that they didn’t play two of my favorite songs of the Donkey Flats EP—West of Where I Am and Pride. Highlights of the setlist included Sad in Carolina, which was one of the first songs I heard from them and absolutely loved, and Freakin’ Out, which is my favorite 2026 song from them. Des Moines also got two special treats—two unreleased songs! A few songs into the show, they started playing If You Could Talk. This song, which was released later this summer, sounded fantastic live. It’s a bit slower, but the crowd absolutely vibed to it. Then, a few songs later, a few of the audience members decided that it would be the perfect time to start a fight. The band immediately stopped the song, called security, and were upset by the disturbance. However, to make it up to the crowd, we got to hear a second unreleased song! The second song, It’s a Lot, is still yet to be released but is a banger. I’ve posted the full video of the song on my TikTok @alt.archived and the band has even reposted the video!
The fighting at this show was the least of our crowd worries. Many of the crowd members were rude, smelly, and way too up close and personal. I understand it was a sold out show, but some common crowd courtesy would be nice. Crowds like this just don’t happen in Nebraska, even at hardcore rock shows. Despite our crowd woes, Dexter and the Moonrocks kept the energy high and really sounded incredible live. I will absolutely see them again if they tour in the future.
OVERALL RATINGS
Setlist 9.5/10
Merch: 8/10
Venue: 2/10
Crowd: 0/10
Vibes: 10/10*
*The band was amazing and kept energy high despite the issues with the crowd!
