Yr. (Late) Weekend, Pt. 1: Dax Riggs + Chase Hamblin + The Escatones + Bring Me the Horizon + Of Mice and Men + AER +RDGLDGRN + More

Yep, it’s Friday, March 14th right damn now, and there’s plenty going on. Unfortunately, yours truly is stuck at Terminal D of Intergalactic, waiting for my mother-in-law, who supposedly landed an hour ago. sigh.

Still, though, that shouldn’t stop you from doing somewhat more fun things. Here goes:

Dax Riggs/Chase Hamblin @ Fitzgerald’s
Top of the list, no question, is this show up at Fitz. Not only is the opening act the excellent, out-of-time troubadour Chase Hamblin, whom I like quite a bit, but murky, grunge-y swamp-doom songsmith Dax Riggs is the headliner, and he’s pretty damn great.

Granted, I am pretty partial to his older, We Sing of Only Blood or Love stuff, but the newer stuff’s interesting, too, with Riggs coming off almost like a New Orleans-bred Tom Waits. (And yes, that’s a good thing.)

*repeat repeat/EL EL/The Escatones @ Bohemeo’s ($5)
Speaking of swampiness, albeit a bit more salty-tasting, Dirty Gulf surf-rawk dudes {The Escatones} are at Bohemeo’s this evening, rocking out in their inimitably mucky, brackish, quasi-psych way alongside a pair of out-of-town oddballs. I dunno EL EL at all, I’m afraid, but I’ve heard a bit by *repeat repeat, and it’s neat stuff, quirky, kinda-campy pop that makes me think of the B-52’s.

Bring Me the Horizon/Of Mice and Men/letlive./Issues @ House of Blues
On a very different front, there’s the Bring Me the Horizon show at the House of Blues, which is a full plate of melodic-yet-heavy metalcore/post-emo awaits. I used to be a little leery of BMTH, to tell the truth, and Of Mice and Men besides, mostly because a lot of that metalcore stuff just leaves me cold. I’ve been pretty impressed with both those two bands lately, though, in part because their recent albums actually remind me more of the Deftones than they do anything else (and that’s a comparison I’m always happy to be able to make). They’re heavy and growly, yeah, and they definitely buzzsaw their way into your skull with those metalcore guitars (esp. Of Mice and Men), but there’s a nice, moody melodicism to it, particularly when it comes to the vocals.

AER/RDGLDGRN/New Beat Fund @ Fitzgerald’s
Lastly, the other floor of Fitz tonight is a different flavor yet, with two offbeat hip-hop outfits (AER and New Beat Fund) and one punkish Brit-by-way-of-Virginia-pop band (RDGLDGRN), none of whom, honestly, I’d ever even heard of before they popped up on the Fitz schedule.

I’ve been able to hear a little bit of all three now, though, and damn, I’m wishing I’d heard ’em sooner, especially AER. The music is poppy and bouncy and electronic, almost airy and shoegaze-y at times, but the rhymes and the beats remind me of Atmosphere and other Rhymesayers folks. New Beat Fund are goofier and loopier, but I’m liking that, too, and RDGLDGRN caught me completely off-guard, sounding (to me, at least) almost like Art Brut. Dang…

Runners-Up:
Mixers & Elixirs Pi Day, featuring The Crush @ Houston Museum of Natural Science (7-10PM)
Mindless Self Indulgence/The Bunny The Bear @ Warehouse Live
Poor Dumb Bastards/The Grannies/A Pony Named Olga/Billy Joe Winghead/The Copper Gamins @ Rudyard’s
SXSW Overflow Fest 2014, featuring Drop Tank, Sit Kitty Sit, & The Littlest Viking @ Super Happy Fun Land (9PM-2AM)
Skyrocket!/Little Joe Washington @ The Continental Club
S.X.F.U., featuring Cronophage, Landfill, & Malevolent Force @ Mango’s ($10 for 4-day pass)
Satellite Brigade/Bent Knee/I&II/Pilot @ Notsuoh ($5/$10) Koffin Kats/Flamin’ Hellcats @ Walter’s