Von Iva - Bottom of the Hill, July 13th

Lead singer Jillian Iva has all the mystique of a 12-year-old preteen girl.
Yet it is just this sort of shameless playful experimentation that gives Von Iva an edge performance-wise over many other bands today. I would say “bands of its type”, but in trying to reference bands similar to Von Iva, I couldn’t think of any. Think Cher preaching over old skool video-game music. That is the closest analogy I could find. Backed by Kelly Harris on drums and Becky Kupersmith pounding heavy, bizarre synth backgrounds, Von Iva is neither dainty, nor elegant, but more like down-to-earth dance pop delivered Vegas-style. Indeed, it is Jillian Iva’s dancing and wild stage antics – from twirling the mic like a cowgirl, flinging the contents of her water bottle all over the audience, and leaping onto the drumset and bending over backwards – that make Von Iva a smashing, captivating success. Over the course of the evening, I watched as singer Iva writhed onstage like Madonna, climbed all over the speakers, and walked into the audience, all the while preaching her doctrines – such simple messages as “Do It” and “You Need No Man.”
Embodied in her voice lies Iva’s prowess. With sass, and the presence of a gospel preacher, she was even able to offset the remarks made to her by one particularly rude audience member. And yet, despite these capabilities, Von Iva are no vixens. They do not try to capture the audience’s attention by using sex appeal or an excessive girlish charm. Rather they promote energy and fun. The overall effect is like an older brother getting beat up by his younger sister for wrongdoing – not “sexy” per se, but definitely deserving of respect. Watch out for Von Iva! They will take you over before you can say “Do It.”
The other bands that played that evening were a scream-punk outlet called Perfect Machines as well as Girl In A Coma, a female gothabilly lineup from San Antonio, Texas. Perfect Machines were the least-irritating, most danceable band of their genre that I have ever witnessed. The normal annoyances of pop-punk were overshadowed by some surprisingly trippy jungle beats and well-placed hooks which even got me moving. Girl In A Coma featured a mismatched goth-punk sort of trio with a neurotic sound and an unbelievably growly, goggle-eyed lead singer. Unfortunately Girl In A Coma seemed to lack focus, as if trying to imitate way too many styles without claiming any particular one. I’m sure that I would enjoy their performance more of I were on any sort of illegal substances, but for the most part, their sound got drowned in its own washing machine.