- Bright future. Very bright future
There are plenty of ways to skin a cynic — wisdom that Dax Riggs has taken to heart over the years. Riggs’ willingness to broaden his approach and explore different musical avenues suggests he’d make a better politician than those we’re afflicted with. His dramatic, swaggering delivery sounds like he’s spent a lot of time listening to glam pioneers like Marc Bolan and early David Bowie. Musically, Riggs has journeyed far from the malignant filth and feral growl of his first gig singing with swampy death-metal grinders Acid Bath in the ’90s. After they broke up, he made a lateral move to Agents of Oblivion, though they did explore a groovier and stonier version of doom. The millennium brought Deadboy & the Elephantman, where Riggs expanded a little by delving into a stripped-down, but still primal, garage-blues strut. After two albums and some lineup turnover, Riggs dropped the band’s name in favor of his own, retaining much of the same approach. On Say Goodbye to the World, his second album as a “solo artist” (where he’s still accompanied by full band), Riggs turns down the tempos and rawk-crunch in favor of some finesse. The music is moodier and groovier without completely abandoning the grime. It’s sorta like a late-night back-alley rendezvous with a leather-jacketed lothario. Dax Riggs, with Simeon Soul Charger and the Black Elevators, play the Grog Shop at 9 p.m. Tickets: $12, $10 in advance. —Chris Parker
Follow us on Twitter: @clescenemusic
