By Andrew Bansal
[Photos & video by Joe Dolan]
March 3rd 2014, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Amidst the plethora of local talent I explore on a regular basis, one band that has really caught my eye and ear in the past six months with the sheer brilliance of their musicianship is Silver Lake-based trio The Vim Dicta, who very aptly call their style of music ‘Psycho Groove’. I ventured on a whim to the Satellite one fine summer night last year and was blown away by the power of The Vim Dicta as a live band. I’ve kept a close tab on their activities since then, and in these last few months they’ve not only released a stellar new 5-track EP called ‘Von Tango’ but also played several live shows in Los Angeles and elsewhere. After doing their EP release and music video premiere shows at the Viper Room recently, they returned to the venue for a last-minute free show last Monday night, and of course, the Metal Assault team was in attendance.
This being a Monday night, the turnout was thin at first but by the time the band started at around 10 PM, a considerably decent number of people had turned up to witness the performance. The Vim Dicta played a 45-minute set starting with an old tune called ‘Far Away’ followed by a blend of all five tracks off of ‘Von Tango’ and a couple of newer songs. Matt Tunney and Cori Elliott on vocals and guitars along with Chris Infusino on drums showcased their collective as well as individual musical calibre through this spellbindingly powerful set that delighted the horde of The Vim Dicta regulars in the crowd, and instantly turned first-time listeners into new fans.
The class and quality of Matt and Cori’s guitar tones plays a big part in drawing audiences towards the band, as was very much evident during this set. And when you put that together with smokey vocals, excellent drumming and top-notch songwriting, what you have is a band that’s just about impossible to dislike for people who call themselves fans of heavy rock. Their entire palette of creativity was on display through the eight tunes they played here, but judging by the newer material, one has a feeling this young band will further mature into becoming LA’s pride in the not-so-distant future.
Check out a video of ‘Far Away’ from the show:
They’ve clearly conquered The Viper Room and other venues like The Satellite, Silverlake Lounge, Troubadour and Harvard & Stone with strong headline shows, and now it’s time for them to take it to the next level and open for bigger bands to play in front of larger audiences, because even at such an early stage of their career, they’re undoubtedly capable of expanding their fan base. As I keep saying over and over, The Vim Dicta is one LA band you cannot afford to overlook, a band that makes the strongest first impression you can ever imagine, and you can take my word for it.
Check out a full photo gallery from the show below (view the photos here if you’re on a non-Flash device):
Set List:
01. Far Away
02. Name Of The Game
03. Stranger
04. Nobody
05. Stallion
06. Point Blank
07. Von Tango
08. Teaspoon
Visit The Vim Dicta on the web:
TheVimDicta.com
facebook.com/TheVimDicta
twitter.com/TheVimDicta
youtube.com/TheVimDicta
TheVimDicta.bandcamp.com
Visit The Viper Room on the web:
ViperRoom.com
facebook.com/TheViperRoom
twitter.com/TheViperRoom
instagram.com/TheViperRoom