Soulful crooner Dax Riggs and his morbid, yet bluesy compositions will surface in the NYC area yet again. The ex-Acid-Bath-er will headline a show at Mercury Lounge on June 28, one only a few current tour dates. Tickets go on AmEx presale tomorrow (5/15) at noon, with regular sale hitting on Friday.

Dax Riggs has been rather silent on the recording front since releasing Say Goodnight to the World in 2010. Use that time to catch up on older materia, right beside his current tour schedule, below.

Continue reading "Dax Riggs schedules Mercury Lounge show ++ other dates"

by BBG

Dax Riggs at a BV party during SXSW 2011 (more by Samantha Marble)

Dax Riggs will bring his swamp-y goth-blues back to NYC for a pair of dates after Thanksgiving, 12/10 at Mercury Lounge and 12/11 at Rock Shop. Ticketing info for Rock Shop is forthcoming, while Mercury Lounge tickets go on AmEx presale at noon on Wednesday (11/9) and regular sale on Friday. The dates are part of string of shows for the solo artist, who so far has not announced plans for his follow-up to 2010's Say Goodnight To The World. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope that he plays some new material at the dates which are listed, along with some live video, below...

Continue reading "Dax Riggs touring this winter, 2 NYC shows included (dates)"

by BBG

Dax Riggs at a BV party in Texas (more by Samantha Marble)

After an early show with Kittens Ablaze and Voxhaul Broadcast, Mercury Lounge hosts Dax Riggs TONIGHT, 5/6 with special guests Man's Gin. Tickets are still available for the late show which begins Dax's two-day NYC run of swampy dark-blues.

After an early show Saturday with Julia Nunes and Allison Weiss, you can find the ex-Acid Bath/Deadboy & the Elephantmen front man at the Rock Shop (on 5/7), where he'll team up with support from Cristina Black. Tickets are also still available for that too. I guess Dax Riggs is a good late night soundtrack.

In related news, Man's Gin is also on board to team with Bible Of The Devil & High Spirits at Saint Vitus on May 15th. More info at the Facebook event page.

All Dax Riggs dates and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Dax Riggs is on tour, in NYC for two shows, one w/ Man's Gin"

photos by Samantha Marble & Tim Griffin

Surfer Blood (by Tim Griffin)

SXSW started out for us this year on two stages with fifteen bands at Emo's for a free six hour BrooklynVegan day party presented by Feed the Beat.

On the big stage Anamanaguchi kicked things off right at noon with a high energy, 8-bit pop rock set to a dedicated crowd who showed up early to catch them. Fresh off the Bruise Cruise, the garage rockin' Turbo Fruits kept the party going. By 1:30, with a buzz already kicking in thanks to the free Sailor Jerry and Sparks we were serving, a Place To Bury Strangers brought it with their intense, high volume noise, and then Darwin Deez followed, replacing armed-cross spectators with pockets of dancers and coordinated dance routines on stage. By the time Chiddy Bang (who arrived a bit late and therefore also had to play a shorter set) took the stage, the large room was filled in and people were ready to sing along to the rappers whose setup includes a mic and drumset, and backing tracks courtesy of bands like MGMT and Passion Pit (members of whom were in the audience). The Vaccines, all the way from the UK, kept the momentum going with their brit rock, though they also played a short set reportedly due to worries over the singer's voice.

By the time Mister Heavenly took the stage, you were lucky to find a place to stand, due in part to the many wanting to check out Michael Cera's bass skills. Many were also multitasking, aka watching music and eating the massive amounts of free burritos that Taco Bell delivered through the back door and were handing out all over the place. As Andrew pointed out, "Mr. Heavenly perfored an appropriately lovely set, its two frontmen trading verses in their own styles." The two frontmen are of course Nick Diamonds from Islands and Honus Honus from Man Man. The group is rounded out by Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer.

And finally, as Bill pointed out, Surfer Blood "gave us an enjoyable hits-packed [headlining] set from their first album." That of course was going down on the bigger outside stage while Kylesa was completely destroying on the inside stage - I actually watched more of Kylesa than Surfer Blood, but BBG can tell you more about that...

Deafheaven (by Sam Marble)

Despite traffic issues that made The Roller open the inside stage on the late side, the Austin band's bulldozing doom thunder opened the BV festivities at SXSW with a roar. The Roller is one of my favorite heavy bands in Austin, so it was great to see this powerful foursome in action on a BV stage (until I can convince 'em to come up north!).

When the Deafheaven guys arrived, their tees were a dead giveaway. Sporting merch from Hate Forest, Hellfish (records), and Slowdive, it was obvious to see the band's influences, but their live show was definitely born of hardcore. Wide-eyed cocalist George Clarke was in the audience's face, or thrashing maniacally as the band tore through tracks like "Violet" from their forthcoming Roads To Judah and "Libertine Dissolves" from their demo.

The Secret followed Deafheaven, and their blistering blast-y down-tuned hardcore reminded me of breathren Trap Them, Rotten Sound, or Converge in the live setting. Furious blackened hardcore that was technical and powerful.

KEN Mode was next, delivering the hardcore-infused noise rock jams that shine on their new LP Venerable. KEN Mode would leave shortly after their set to headline Scoot Inn as part of a Thrasher show with Dark Castle, The Body and others.

Blackened electric swamp-blues from Dax Riggs kept energy levels on high before Trash Talk brought the crowd to a circle pitting/crowd-surfing frenzy. The band was short their usual bassist though, as Spencer was in the hospital after being stabbed by some "nazi motherfuckers" at a hardcore show in their native California. Despite the replacement, Trash Talk was undeterred and as incendiary as ever.

Kylesa closed the day out with faves like set-opener "Hollow Severer", "Tired Climb", "Running Red", and "Scapegoat", before calling it a day before a sold-out crowd. Excellent set from these Savannah greats, who seem to get better (and bigger) with each show.

All in all it was an amazing first day at SXSW that continued two hours later with six more hours of bands at Swan Dive.

Thanks to Feed the Beat, Orange (who provided the thunder behind Kylesa), Line 6 (the mics), Korg (keyboard), Vox (amps), Blackstar (and amps), Sensible Portions, Honest Tea, Raw Revolution, Sailor Jerry, SPARKS, everyone at Emo's, The Syndicate, Andy, Erik, Katie, Zach, Nevonah, The Roller, Anamanaguchi & Surfer Blood for being so amenable, as well as all of the bands for being incredible! Mostly, we'd like to thank anyone/everyone who made it out on a Wednesday afternoon... your support is appreciated.

Lots more pictures and videos from the whole day, below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan/Feed the Beat Emo's Day Party in pics & video (Surfer Blood, Kylesa, Mister Heavenly, Trash Talk & more)"

BrooklynVegan Week in Austin begins once again at Emo's where we'll kick off a six hour day party presented by Feed the Beat at noon on Wednesday, March 16th. The 100% free, two-stage lineup looks like this:

Outside / Main Stage @ Emo's
12:00 PM Anamanaguchi
12:45 PM Turbo Fruits
1:30 PM A Place To Bury Strangers
2:15 PM Darwin Deez
3:00 PM Chiddy Bang
3:45 PM The Vaccines
4:30 PM Mister Heavenly
5:15 PM Surfer Blood

Inside / Metal Stage @ Emo's Jr
12:20 PM The Roller
1:10 PM Deafheaven
1:55 PM The Secret
2:40 PM KEN Mode
3:30 PM Dax Riggs
4:20 PM Trash Talk
5:10 PM Kylesa

It's another lineup I'm super excited about, and note: We purposely put Darwin Deez and Chiddy Bang back to back to encourage live collaboration, Mister Heavenly is the new Sub Pop-signed supergroup of sorts, and this is the only day party where you'll be able to catch a set by Kylesa!

I'm also happy to point out again (like at our Friday party), though everyone will sound great already, they are going to sound even better thanks to our official microphone sponsor Line 6, not to mention due to the help of the Korg keyboards, and Vox & Blackstar amps that we'll have on hand - all generous and much-appreciated BrooklynVegan show sponsors.

Also Note:

• we'll also have FREE snacks courtesy of Sensible Portions.
• we'll keep you hydrated with FREE Honest Tea.
• you can keep your energy levels high with FREE Raw Revolution bars.
• FREE Sailor Jerry cocktails while supplies last.
• and there will be even more FREE FOOD and DRINKS (TBA)!

Last but not least, this free show was made possible due to our co-presenters Feed the Beat, who hook touring bands up with free Taco Bell (where eating vegetarian, and even vegan, is easy). As they say, "for five consecutive years, the Feed the Beat® program has provided a total of 365 music artists/bands with food on the road. Touring music artists can relate to eating on the road and the Feed The Beat helps by picking up their post-show late-night dinner tabs."

Feed the Beat artists (past and present) include Dr. Dog, White Rabbits, Wavves, Best Coast, Andrew W.K., Cults, Passion Pit, Phosphorescent, Suckers, Tokyo Police Club, The Sword, Anamanaguchi, Girl Talk, Delta Spirit, A Place to Bury Strangers, Lucero, Turbo Fruits, Municipal Waste, Chiddy Bang, The Bouncing Souls, The Gaslight Anthem, Those Darlins and many more.

Thanks also to Zach Jaeger of Tonally Dude for creating the flyer you see below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan & Feed the Beat present a Wed. Day Party (Emo's 2-stage lineup announcement)"

Dax Riggs at Mercury Lounge in 2006 (more)

In addition to the previously discussed Dax Riggs show at Mercury Lounge on May 6th (tickets still on sale), the Louisiana native has added a second NYC date a day later, at the Rock Shop on 5/7. Tickets are on sale.

Updated tour dates (with more TBA), which include a trek to SXSW, are below...

Continue reading "Dax Riggs announces more tour dates"

by BBG

"Dax Riggs - Say Goodnight to the World -- Slicker and more produced than previous Dax material, including his pre-solo Deadboy & the Elephantmen stuff. Still think this guy should be Johnny Cash-huge...or at least Ryan Adams-huge." [Jeff Wagner]

Dax Riggs shows are starting to pop up around the country including his return to NYC at Mercury Lounge on May 6th. Tickets for that one go on sale on Friday at noon. In addition, you can catch the great Riggs at SXSW where he'll headline the Easy Tiger Patio on March 16th. All other currently known tour dates (more TBA) and some videos below...

Continue reading "Dax Riggs playing NYC, SXSW & other shows (dates & videos)"

by BBG

Former Acid Bath and Deadboy & The Elephantmen guitarist Dax Riggs is going back on the road. Tickets go on sale today (6/21) at noon for August 14th and August 15th NYC shows at Mercury Lounge. The dates are in support of the Say Goodnight To The World, Riggs's new LP for Fat Possum Records which hits store shelves not long before the Mercury dates (on August 2nd). Stream the new song "Gravedirt on my Blue Suede Shoes" at his MySpace.

All dates (not many of them yet), and a few videos, below...

Continue reading "Dax Riggs releasing new album, playing 2 NYC shows (dates) "

DOWNLOAD: Dax Riggs - Demon Tied to a Chair in My Brain (MP3)

* Arthur & Yu are at Sound Fix
* The Mountain Goats & Bowerbirds are at Bowery Ballroom
* Animal Collective & Vampire Weekend play Webster Hall
* Matthew Dear's Big Hands & Mobius Band are @ Mercury Lounge
* Mobius Band's new album is streaming at AOL
* The Jones Street Boys start a Living Room residency
* Magik Markers and caUSE co-MOTION! are @ Death By Audio
* Dax Riggs is playing Maxwell's

Dax Riggs = Deadboy & The Elephentmen minus the girl on drums.

Dax's solo project started out under the name T-Daks & His White Plastic Soul. He performed a few times live under that name, mostly doing acoustic shows.

After the breakup of Deadboy & The Elephantmen in 2007, Dax has stated that he would release the future albums under his own name. The first album under his solo name We Sing of Only Blood or Love was released in August 2007. [Wikipedia]

He's been out on tour with Queens of the Stone Age, and now he's headlining his own shows - that includes tonight at Maxwell's, and two shows in a few days at Mercury Lounge. What else?