I accidentally stumbled upon the music of Dax Riggs at the SXSW Festival in
Austin, Texas. My friend Jen kept talking enthusiastically about this guy Dax
Riggs who had been the singer of the Acid Bath but was now solo. He was
scheduled to play SXSW but due to our schedule we would not be able to see
him. Jen and I were walking around Austin, acclimating ourselves with the
huge music event. She and I walked into a venue just to check it out and low
and behold there was the man himself, Dax Riggs. He was playing an surprise
set right before our very eyes. Jen was beyond thrilled and I have been a
fan ever since.
When I read that Dax Riggs was coming to the Atlanta, I immediately
contacted Jen and invited her to be my date for this show. Sadly, she could
not attend due to family obligations. Lucky for me, I had no obligations
that night, other than an evening rejoicing in the genre bending sounds of
Dax Riggs yet again.
Thursday May 12th, I joined an eclectic audience at The Earl, all of us
ready for the to hear music that has tones of Iggy Pop, Jack White, Neil
Young as well as others. Dax appears to be a simple man but the sound he
creates is complicated.
Dax took the stage with the help of a drummer and bass player and together
the trio started the set with a “I Hear Satan”. The front row of nearly all
ladies sang along with every word and gyrate danced with their boyfriends
that were standing behind them making me think , “this is baby making
music”.The emotional, sultry feel of the music of Dax Riggs definitely lends
itself to a certain amount of sex appeal.
At times the crowd literally howled like wolves in appreciation and Dax
would calmly respond by saying “I love You. I love You”. There seemed to be
a significant increase in howling for the songs “Say Goodnight to the
World” ( the title of the current album), “Grave Dirt On My Blue Suede
Shoes” and “Let Me Be Your Cigarette”.
The best description I can give of this show was and the music of Dax Riggs
is “dark rock haunted tonk”.