Von Iva / Hey Willpower @ (The Independent, 20 August 2005)

I'm here baking in San Diego for a day trip for the parents. I come home and I saw 5 chicks. Literally, chicks. Like baby chickens. In a box. I'm like, "What the hell is this?" Apparently, my little cousins wanted some chicks for pets but they can only buy them in bulks of, get this, 24!! We got stuck with 5 of them. Adding insult to injury, it's hotter than hell over here (I've grown used to San Francisco summers), and I have no shorts! Thus, I have to wear my dad's short shorts with a 28" waist. I can fit in them actually. But I look like a really bad Daisy Dukes with them on.

So, what does my bitching about chicks in 28" waistline short shorts have in common with the Von Iva and Hey Willpower show at the Independent last week?

I guess, stretching it, my shorts story is similar to the outfits worn by Hey Willpower's dancers, Erin Rush and Justin Kelly. However, I can't strut as well with them on as these two. I've reviewed Hey Willpower before when they opened up for Gravy Train!!! at Cafe Du Nord, and their show a few nights ago was just as scripted and just as fun. Will Schwartz's "Justin-like" vocals accompanied
by semi-unchoreographed danced moves was fun to listen to, as well as watch. I don't know any of their songs, but its catchy nature (which was artfully and cheezily accompanied by Tomo's PowerBook sounds) is enough to make even the curmudgeon of the crowd tap their feet with a 3-4 beat.

After some liquid refreshments, the ladies from Von Iva came on. These 4 "chicks" (there's your second similarity to my story above!) are just rock at it's most raw and riot grrrl-esque. The crowd were really into it, especially the guy with the tats and baseball cap right in front. He was constantly begging anyone from the band to shake his hand . . . and he loved every minute of it. I'm not familiar with their songs, but I think they started off, or had their second song as, "Hot to Trot."

Sheer energy is the best way I can describe it. Jillian Iva, the lead singer, was just all over the stage. She had problems with her microphone cord, but she corrected that easily by just knocking the mic stand out. Oh, that's hot.

As is the weather over here...



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