The secret world of “psychogroove”, after the break…
The Vim Dicta
at
The Hotel Cafe
03/27/14
Hotel Cafe, at least to me, is a venue all about indie folk rock. A guy(s) or gal(s). Couple guitars. Possibly a ukulele. Soft drum bringing that quiet thunder. Singers & Songwriters from all over LA. Playing music first dreamt about in their diaries or dream journals about life after a life changing moment. But listening to a heartbreaking folk tune at Hotel Cafe is something I have come to love from ‘The Cafe’ ever since I covered my first B4M Showcase in 2010. Defined many of my Hollywood experiences. On this night, however, Hotel Cafe was taken over by three devilish sunset blvd. outsiders & what a welcomed treat.
The Vim Dicta, masters of a musical fusion style known as psychogroove, electrified the audience that night. Their brand of psychedelic rock (in the vein of Janis Joplin, Dead Sara, & The Mars Volta) is relentless. Like a train with no brakes. Gaining speed with each second. Coming. Hell, the sheer might of the sound waves from their giant AMPs bounced off the cafe’s brick walls encompassed every patron in a cocoon of electronic rock for almost an hour. You normally don’t find multiple AMPs in this venue. Raw voices & instruments only. Made the simple red stage of the Cafe feel like something found on the twisted Sunset Strip. The mini-sphere was a nice touch.
Much props for Cori, Matt, & Chris for not settling for an acoustic show. What you get when you buy a ticket is a true invitation to psychogroove in all it’s wonder. Cori howling indistinguishable lyrics at the top of her lungs. Matt channeling Hendrix’s soul through the tips of his fingers, bouncing around, possessed by the song. “Fuse” keeping the two on their relentless pace with his voodoo drums. A trinity lost in a groove.
Not much banter, but the jam packed Thursday night crowd didn’t seem to mind. They screamed louder from the Cafe’s shadows as the night grew on. For the Trio performed all their ‘Von Tango‘ hits (Point Blank, Name of the Game, Stallion, etc.) along with some new cuts soon to be found on their future LP. Each song hit harder than the last & any doubters in the building were made believers by the end.
The Vim Dicta are such an incredible band, who are about to be brought to the limelight by fellow buzzworthy LAers — Dead Sara — on May 6th. (A show we’ll be covering) Hotel Cafe was first venue that allowed me to catch them live, finally, due to the early start time. Made for a crazy late night adventure at a place I thought I knew so well.
Go out & catch them before you have to spend an arm & a leg for a sold out show. Telling you, they are LA’s biggest secret. At least…for the moment.
Big thanks to Hotel Cafe, Vim Dicta, and you for reading.