xBk Live

09/07/2026

We've got a HUGE week of music and comedy on tap! Get your tickets at xbklive.com, and we'll see you at the show. Full weekly schedule below👇

Monday - The Big Silly Improv Comedy Jam @ The Annex
Wednesday - Wade Forster SOLD OUT
Thursday - The Back Alley w/ Riley Jane
Thursday - Speakeasy Comedy w/ Martin Phillips + Friends @ The Annex
Friday - Cedar County Cobras album release w/ The Soul Searchers
Friday - Caley Conway + Cathedral Becomes Tomb w/ Rutabaga @ The Annex
Saturday - Rhythm & Pep Presents Lights! Camera! Glamour ... And Gore!
Saturday - Callum Kerr @ The Annex
Sunday - An Evening With Dave Moore

09/07/2026

🎹 COMING TO THE ANNEX: LOGAN METZ w/ TREVOR SENSOR

You may know Logan Metz from the company he’s kept.

A multi-instrumentalist and former member of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Metz has shared stages and studios with an extraordinary roster of musicians, including Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Joe Walsh, Eddie Vedder, Warren Haynes, Robby Krieger, Bob Weir, and Willie Nelson, for whom he began playing piano on tour in 2023.

Now, Metz brings his own music to the xBk Annex, where his piano-driven songwriting blends folk, country, rock, jazz, and a healthy dose of Tom Waits/Randy Newman-style wit. Joining him in support is Trevor Sensor, the acclaimed Midwestern singer-songwriter known for his distinctive voice, vivid storytelling, and beautifully strange brand of Americana.

📅 SATURDAY, SEPT. 19
📍 xBk Annex

Two distinctive songwriters. One intimate night of music. Tickets on sale now at https://wl.eventim.us/event/logan-metz-w-trevor-sensor/700122?afflky=xBkLive

📸 Juan Pablo Ariza Botero

09/07/2026

😂 TONIGHT AT THE ANNEX!

It's the first Monday of the month, which means it's time for The Big Silly! Des Laugh Co. takes over the xBk Annex for an improv comedy jam where seasoned improvisers, total newbies, and brave souls who just want to give it a shot can all jump onstage and play.

🎭 The Big Silly: Improv Comedy Jam
📍 xBk Annex
📅 TONIGHT • MONDAY, SEPT. 7
🚪 Doors: 7:30 p.m. | 😂 Show: 8 p.m.
🎟️ FREE SHOW • NO TICKETS REQUIRED

Want to get onstage? Sign up by 5 p.m. to join in! Sign ups are live at https://www.crowdwork.com/e/the-big-silly-improv-comedy-jam

09/06/2026

🔥 TONIGHT AT xBk!

New York's Keep Flying lands in Des Moines tonight with their high-energy blend of punk, pop, and hardcore, complete with a full horn section that gives their anthems an extra shot of adrenaline. Joining them are LAMP and Astro Brat for a stacked night of loud, fast, and seriously fun rock & roll.

🎺 Keep Flying
w/ LAMP + Astro Brat

📅 TONIGHT • SUNDAY, SEPT. 6
🚪 Doors: 6 p.m. | 🎶 Show: 7 p.m.
All Ages
🎟️ https://wl.eventim.us/event/keep-flying-w-lamp-and-astro-brat/700119?afflky=xBkLive

09/05/2026

⚡ TONIGHT AT THE ANNEX!

Get weird with PROBLEMS, the one-person electronic punk project of Chicago's Darren Keen. Built around live vocals, electronic music, and a Fender Bass VI, PROBLEMS is equal parts strange, hilarious, beautiful, and impossible to categorize.

Joining the chaos is Clip Clop!

🎸 PROBLEMS
w/ Clip Clop

📍 xBk Annex
📅 TONIGHT • SATURDAY, SEPT. 5
🚪 Doors: 7 p.m. | 🎶 Show: 7:30 p.m.
All Ages
🎟️ https://wl.eventim.us/event/problems-w-clip-clop/698338?afflky=xBkLive

09/05/2026

🤠 TONIGHT AT xBk!

Texas country heavyweights Silverada roll into xBk tonight with a hard-earned sound forged in Austin dancehalls, honky-tonks, and years on the road. Expect timeless twang, country shuffles, rock & roll, and a live show from a band that's spent nearly two decades learning how to keep a dance floor moving.

Opening the night is Rambler Kane, a Jacksonville troubadour bringing heartfelt Americana songwriting inspired by Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, and John Prine.

🎸 Silverada
w/ Rambler Kane

📅 TONIGHT • SATURDAY, SEPT. 5
🚪 Doors: 7 p.m. | 🎶 Show: 8 p.m.
All Ages
🎟️ Tickets available at the door or online at https://wl.eventim.us/event/silverada-w-rambler-kane/694318?afflky=xBkLive

09/04/2026

We're pumped to host Cedar County Cobras for their album release show on Friday, Sept. 11!🐍

So EXCITED!!! The Vinyl Record arrived just in time for the album release date TODAY!!!
Sinners & Saints is now available on all streaming platforms, website, bandcamp
✔️https://overtonmusic.lnk.to/CCCsinnersandsaints
✔️https://cedarcountycobras.com/music
✔️https://cedarcountycobras.bandcamp.com/album/sinners-saints
🎵🎶Please take a moment to to listen. We took some risks & put our heart on the line to sing about love, loss, politics, hurt, joy, and good times too. We couldn't have made this record without the support from our label Overton Music & the studio Golden Bear Records... Plus all of the support from the brilliant musicians who joined us on this record Bryan Vanderpool Sean Turner - Dave Moore Dave Moore - Heath Alan Heath Alan - Tanner Taylor
- Monica Faye - Krista Guillaume - Seth Bihun.... Plus cover artwork/design by Helen Spielbauer & cover photo by Sandy Dyas!! & extra studio time at Ryan Bernemann's & Dustin Duwa's studios.
Thank you all!!! 🩵

09/04/2026

🎉 JUST ANNOUNCED!

Get ready to pick up the pieces with Steffen Heins! The Iowa singer-songwriter brings his blend of Americana, rock, blues, and country to xBk for the album release party for his brand-new record, Picking Up the Pieces.

Featuring nine original songs and guest appearances from Midwest favorites Tina Haase-Finley and David Zollo, the album is a celebration of songwriting, collaboration, and the kind of music that feels like it’s been waiting for you all along.

Special guest Andy Fleming from Brother Trucker kicks off the show!

📅 THURSDAY, OCT. 29
🚪 Doors: 6 p.m. | 🎶 Show: 7 p.m.
All Ages
🎟️ https://wl.eventim.us/event/steffen-heins-picking-up-the-pieces-album-release-party/704577?afflky=xBkLive

09/04/2026

🪑 JUST ANNOUNCED!

Some stories stay with us. Some change us. And some begin the moment we decide to start over.

The Yellow Chair Project returns to the xBk Annex for Fresh Start, an evening of real-life stories from members of the Des Moines community exploring the moments when we leave something behind, reinvent ourselves, or begin again.

Want to share your own story? Storyteller submissions are now open, with every storyteller receiving written and verbal feedback through a workshop process ahead of the event. Or simply come listen. You don't need a story of your own to have a seat in the room. If you are interested in sharing a story, please reach out to Tori Luthringer at tluthringer [at] gmail.com to share a draft.

📅 FRIDAY, DEC. 18
📍 xBk Annex
🚪 Doors: 6 p.m. | 🗣️ Storytelling: 7 p.m.
🎟️ All Ages | On sale now at https://wl.eventim.us/event/the-yellow-chair-project-fresh-start/704195?afflky=xBkLive

Stories are best when they can be shared. Come hear some. Maybe tell one yourself.