“Revolution girl style now!”

Most of the girls who took the stage at the 9:30 Club early in the day on Saturday weren’t yet born 17 years ago when that rallying cry kicked off the International Pop Underground Festival and gave a name to Bikini Kill’s first record. But if the exuberance onstage and in the crowd was any indication, the spirit of that revolution is still going strong. Saturday’s showcase was the culminating event of the week-long Girls Rock! DC rock ‘n’ roll day camp for girls, which we visited last week as the girls learned the ins and outs of being in a band: playing their instruments, working together, booking shows, and writing songs. But what was in evidence as the eight bands and two DJs that took the stage Saturday was that the counselors managed to impart something even more intangible: how to rock.

The mood in the club was electric from the moment the crowd began streaming in from a line that stretched around the block. No small feat, considering that the doors opened at the very un-rock ‘n’ roll-ish hour off 11 a.m. The campers were already occupying the balcony as families and friends entered the room; as they saw people they knew, the mutual cheering began and didn’t end until the show was over two hours later.