New Music Alert: Vigil of War's "Spoon Fed"

I first came across Vigil of War in 2018. I loved their aggressive Sunset Strip style and listed them in my Top 15 Favorite New Bands that I came across that year. That aggressive style can be seen in this song "Spoon Fed." And one has to love those snarl vocals. The two guitarists go above the speed limits and the drummer sets the heart pulsating.

The video shows the masses hypnotized while watching what I assume is propaganda videos. 

Lyrics go as such, "Masses buy just what they're sold. A spoon fed crowd among us. The countless victims of the mold . . . If we can't bring the change, ignorance remains." 

So yes, the masses are hypnotized by the propaganda, but that doesn't mean we can't change all of that. 

photo taken at the Viper Room

Redwood Bar: Vigil of War with Chump, The Great Sadness and The Dead Coats

I caught Vigil of War for the first time last year. I saw them twice in 2018, but the last time was way back in June. That meant over a year had gone by since I last saw the band. About a month ago, I ran into Alicia, lead singer, at The Satellite. She mentioned to me that she was playing the Redwood Bar. I looked up the date on the Redwood Bar's website and immediately entered it into my phone calendar.

This band brought their metal rock to the tiny Redwood Bar stage. I just love Alicia's vocals. At one point, those vocals snarl and at another you get a power vocal that ranks up there with the the best '80s metal bands' power ballads. My experience seeing them on the Sunset Strip is that this band loves to move, which was restricted by the small stage of the Redwood Bar. They did their best with their lead guitarist busting some knees on the wood stage.

The band has replaced one of their guitarists with another, Kiki Wong. I'm not sure when exactly this occurred, but obviously within the last year.

There were a number of photographers in the audience. All of us; however, were the old guard. I wonder when the young guard of photographers will discover this band.

Vigil of War

Opening the night was Chump. I caught perhaps half of their set. Their Instagram indicated that this was going to be their last set ever. If so, they killed it. Their bassist/lead singer sprawled himself across the floor, putting on some Dr Jekyll shifts to Mr Hyde like moves. Or maybe I should say he was going from Banner to The Hulk. What I did find interesting is how he played the bass for part of a song. He grabbed it by the neck and then tossed it in the air a few times, grabbing it by the neck again while making sure he shook those strings. 

Chump

The Great Sadness is a band I've come across a few times. They're a band that seems to play with many of the bands I follow. I've seen them do some art-type shows. Other times, I've seen them go with just some straight up desert psychedelic rock. On this specific night, they went with the desert psychedelic rock. As always, they had some devoted fans in the crowd. And I do believe they won some converts, as well.

The Great Sadness

The Dead Coats was closing out their west coast tour. This is a band from Austin, Texas. This band loved to tell the jokes and actually explain the idea behind each of their song titles. It was actually pretty cool. For example, they have a song called "Coke." They mentioned that every band has to have at least one song about cocaine even if they'd never used cocaine themselves. Yeah, as they mentioned, they were stand-up comedians. I couldn't help, but notice how excited their lead singer came across. There was a sparkle in her eye throughout the set. She was playing one of the smaller venues in Los Angeles, but she looked so thrilled by the fact she was playing the Redwood Bar.

The Dead Coats

Royal Distortion and friends at The Viper Room

It was off to the Viper Room for the first time in years. For the past few years, my time on the Sunset Strip has been confined to the Whisky a Go Go. How did I end up going to The Viper Room? Well, Royal Distortion was playing a Wednesday night residency there throughout the month of March. And well, Royal Distortion is fronted by members of a favorite band of mine called Barb Wire Dolls.

There were five bands playing on this final night of the residency. Earthsleep, Double Cobra, Jason Achilles Mezilis, Royal Distortion and Vigil of War.

It all started off with Earthsleep hitting the stage at 7:30 p.m. (The Sunset Strip venues love their early start times.) Lead singer Cindy knows how to scream it out. What did I notice? At one point, she put on some skeleton dance moves. What did I notice going through my photos after the night? One photo I captured had Cindy licking her hand. If anyone knows the band, they know that Cindy goes by Girlwolf. It all connects.

Earthsleep

Double Cobra came up next with a high energy sound that one would expect from a Sunset Strip band. I initially wasn't sure what the band's name was. When they were announced, I swear I heard Double Cover. Then I thought I heard Double Poker. Comment of the set, "Narcissism is at an all-time high . . . said the lead singer." For this being the band's third set ever, they put on a solid show.

Double Cobra

Jason Achilles Mezilis was up there by himself and his drummer. I swear he was the busiest musician playing in Los Angeles that night. He had loops going on all over the place. He'd play a few bars on his keyboard. Then he'd rush over to his guitar. Then he might jump over to the bass. Half my time during the set was spent thinking, "Is he going to make it to his next instrument in time to keep up the sound?" Noticed: Half his body from his feet to his face were covered in Tron-like drawings.

Jason Achilles Mezilis

Then it was time for Royal Distortion, the new Barb Wire Dolls project. Dare I say that Royal Distortion is a new mature sound for the members of the band. IQueen still puts on an amazing front woman show. What would a band fronted by IQueen be without her high energy? But let's also say the sound is pure energy bliss. What I found amusing about myself? I keep wanting to call the band Blond Ambition. I have no clue how I go from Royal Distortion to Blond Ambition.

Royal Distortion

Closing out the night was dressed in black Vigil of War. Their set was less than the standard 30 minutes and it left me wanting more. When I think Sunset Strip, this is the type of band I'm thinking about: heavy on the mascara to present a bit of the dramatic death look, but then just a touch of a smile that pops up when the music is going perfect -- just to let you know not to take the look too seriously. I can't wait to catch this band again.

Vigil of War