Dax Riggs is an interesting guy. He started out in a metal sludge band called Acid Bath that had a pretty dedicated (if small) following. When Acid Bath broke up he formed Agents of Oblivion, a band that managed to be both heavy and hauntingly beautiful, but definitely not sludgy. Agents of Oblivion also had a dedicated if small following. Then came a band called Deadboy & the Elephantmen, which is more roots-rock. Their first album had a full band, but their second only a drummer and Dax on vocals/guitar. He now records under his own name and when he performs live will also do Deadboy material.

I’ve never seen him before. Missed him plenty of times. He’s one of my favorite vocalists, though, so I have really wanted to catch him. And his voice is just as awesome live as it is on record.

The show was at the Glasshouse in Pomona, which is quickly becoming my favorite local venue. Well, not so local—it’s an hour’s drive (longer in traffic), but that’s how far all the LA venues are too for me (at least). Even so, we got there early and were the first ones there.

This was a half-room show. Which means the venue had blocked off the back half of the place and put out leather couches on risers for us to sit on. It was awesome. For the first two bands, there were only enough people there that just about everyone could have a seat.

First up were Crystal Antlers, a band I’ve seen before and lauded for having one of those “I came to dance” guys. A guy who in this case plays a couple bongo-style drums and tamberine and dances a lot. I enjoyed them more the second time around, I think.

Second were a Portland, OR band called The Builders and The Butchers. These guys were interesting. They had a big husky guy who looked like a lumberjack and played—are you ready?—mandolin, and sometimes banjo; a singer who played acoustic guitar; a bassist who played an acoustic bass (not an upright, but acoustic); a drummer who mostly played a floor tom and a bass drum laid flat on the floor, with a tamberine around his ankle. And then another guy, who alternately played trumpet, keyboards, mandolin (when the other mandolin player was on banjo), a mouth organ (? something you blow into and play a small keyboard), and he also sat with the drummer and played the bass drum that was flat on the floor.

Interesting, right? And all in all, I liked them pretty well. They sang songs about stuff like a Vampire Lake and um, farming, I think. I ended up buying a CD because I didn’t have enough cash for what Dax was selling.

I didn’t know if Dax was touring with a full band or solo or what. Turns out it was just him and a drummer.

Dax played acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards (mostly for this ghostly, atmospheric effect). The drummer sometimes drummed and sometimes played electric guitar—and sometimes both. He’d play guitar and hit either the bass drum or high hat for rhythm.

I don’t know anything about Dax’s reputation as a performer. I mean, I’ve never heard that he’s shy on stage or temperamental or anything like that. But he came across as very shy to me. There were a lot of women there, and the reason is obvious—his voice even makes my knees weak—and one kept saying “I love you, Dax!” He never responded but I got the feeling maybe he was a little uncomfortable with it? Someone also kept calling for “Stranger to Reason,” like the whole night, and he never responded. In fact he hardly said anything at all the entire night, and I only noticed him looking directly at the crowd a couple times.

He played:

We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love
Night is the Notion
Demon Tied to a Chair in My Brain
Wall of Death

Then he said they were going to play some new songs. I think these are all new?

Let Me Be Your Cigarette (new song)
Skeleton Dancing In My Mind
13 Cannot Be Divided

Then they did a crowd favorite:

Stop! I`m Already Dead
Ghost Movement
Radiation Blues (my personal theme song)
Evil Friend
Living is Suicide
Ouroboros
Pocket Fives
–
Dethbryte
Skulls (Misfits cover)
Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones cover)

I managed to get video of a lot of songs (it helps that most are only about 2 minutes long). Links above go to video I took.

But here are videos of three of my favorite songs he did.

Radiation Blues

Evil Friend

I love the line, “We are night sky.” Wait for it.

Living is Suicide

Besides the great title, I love the line, “If God looked upon us it would surely leave us blind.”

He left the stage after playing “Pocket Fives” and thanking the crowd shyly, and the venue started playing exit music, but no one was having that. We all stood around, some clapping and shouting, until he came back out for an encore. He played “Dethbryte,” which I think of as a perfect closing song. Then he did the Misfits cover, after which he said something like, “The Misfits, brilliant.” He looked uncertain about what to play next and ended up doing a Rolling Stones cover, “Dead Flowers.”

It was a great night.