Dexter and The Moonrocks, a band from West Texas, performed in Chicago on Oct. 18 in the Wrigleyville neighborhood. Fans who attended the show were excited, filling the floor of the venue and rocking out by head banging and jumping up and down. The stage was close to the fans allowing for conversations and interactions between the band and concert goers.
Dexter and The Moonrocks describe themselves as a mix of country, space rock and grunge. During an interview with Alternative Press magazine, the band said they take inspiration from country artists such as Noah Kahan and Zach Bryan, but also rock bands like Pink Floyd and Soundgarden.
The band got their start after meeting in a small town in West Texas where they worked a variety of jobs such as a youth baseball coach, fry cook, oil field operator and concrete surface decorator.
Starting off, they played western and country music together, but as things didn’t feel quite right, they started to mix more rock and grunge elements into the songs.
The band’s “Eastern Space Grunge” tour began on Sept. 19 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and will conclude Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 7. Along their tour they will feature special guests like Edgehill, which opened for them in Chicago, as well as artists Red Leather and Liam St. John.
Throughout the performance they played through all of their own original songs, like “Sad in Carolina” and “She Likes Girls” but also included a few covers sprinkled in like “Freaks” by Surf Curse.
During the concert, fans sang along to their favorite songs. From screaming the lyrics out loud or by providing backup vocals by repeating what the lead vocalist, James Tuffs, told them to sing, the crowd was electric. An audience member even threw a custom shirt for the drummer, Ryan Fox, to wear which he then put on for a song or two before taking it off again.
Towards the end of the night, fans also started to try to give the artists their cigarettes, to which the lead singer took one, putting it behind his ear.
The lead singer engaged with the crowd by doing a bit where he pretended to play the guitar with Cubs claws that they had bought earlier in Wrigleyville, all while someone else was actually playing. The band then explained they bought the props for $30, joking that the fans better have liked it because they spent money on it.
Crowd members didn’t want the night to end and began chanting an encore. The band came out for one more song to close out the night.
Copy edited by Trinity Balboa
