Dexter and the Moonrocks bring their debut-album tour to the Lyric in March

The West Texas band behind 'Freakin' Out' books a Tuesday night in the old livery stable off the Square, fresh off its first full-length.

A Tuesday in March, a line down Van Buren Avenue, and a West Texas band with a No. 1 alternative radio hit playing a room that used to stable the horses that pulled buggies around the Square. That is the kind of night Oxford does better than almost anywhere its size, and Dexter and the Moonrocks just booked one.

Dexter and the Moonrocks play The Lyric Oxford on Tuesday, March 2, 2027, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37 through See Tickets. The date was announced Nov. 2. The Lyric holds 600, which puts a band on the rise in a room small enough to feel it.

The timing works in Oxford's favor. The band's debut full-length, *Friends That I Don't Like*, came out Oct. 2, 2026, on Severance Records and Big Loud Rock, as Whiskey Riff reported when it was announced in August. The 14-track record gathers earlier singles including "Freakin' Out," a collaboration with Treaty Oak Revival, "12 Steps" and "If You Could Talk," and brings in Avery Anna on "Why Don't You Say So." Drummer Ryan Fox has described the album as an ode to the band's Texas roots.

"Freakin' Out" is the one people will know. It climbed to No. 1 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart, as [Planet 93.9 noted](https://www.planet939.com/news/daily-planet/dexter-and-the-moonrocks-blast-to-1-on-billboard-alternative-airplay-with-freakin-out/), which is a rare feat for a band that also sits comfortably next to Texas country names. The record has drawn reviews arguing the band is no one-hit wonder, including The AU Review's. Right now they are out on the 12 Steps Tour, with dates running into December, so a March return to the road puts the Lyric show a few months into the album's life, when the new songs have settled into the set.

The Lyric is a big part of why this booking lands. The building at 1006 Van Buren Ave. served as Oxford's livery stable, tied to William Faulkner's family, until 1913, when it became the town's first theater, hosting both live performances and silent films. In 1949, Faulkner walked from Rowan Oak to the premiere of MGM's *Intruder in the Dust* there, according to HottyToddy. The movie house closed in the 1970s and sat empty for years until Bradley Bishop and Tim Sims began renovating it in 2007; it reopened as a venue on July 3, 2008, per the Lyric's own history.

A No. 1 alternative radio hit, in a room that used to stable the horses that pulled buggies around the Square.

That is a lot of history for a building that, on a show night, mostly feels like the right-sized place to see a band before the rooms get bigger.

What to know before going: it is a Tuesday with an 8 p.m. start and a fixed $37 ticket, which makes it an easy weeknight plan. The Square is a short walk, so dinner and a drink before doors is the move. Students should note it lands in early March, before most spring breaks scatter campus.

Tickets are live now. Grab them before the band's next single gets on the radio and the Lyric fills up.

Sources: Dexter and the Moonrocks announce debut album 'Friends That I Don't Like' — Whiskey Riff (whiskeyriff.com); Dexter and the Moonrocks will release debut album on October 2 — Happens (happens.vip); Dexter and the Moonrocks blast to #1 on Billboard Alternative Airplay with 'Freakin' Out' — Planet 93.9 (planet939.com); Album Review: Friends That I Don't Like — The AU Review (theaureview.com); Dexter and the Moonrocks: The 12 Steps Tour — Opendate (app.opendate.io); Dexter and the Moonrocks — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); John Cofield's Oxford and Ole Miss: The Lyric on Van Buren Avenue — HottyToddy (hottytoddy.com); About — The Lyric Oxford (thelyricoxford.com); Lyric Theater (Oxford, Mississippi) — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); JamBase show listing (jambase.com)