by DCist contributor Leigh Bailey
The 9:30 Club was packed on Saturday morning for the fourth annual Girls Rock! DC Camper Showcase. Eleven bands and two DJ teams showed off their new musical skills and rocked the stage for well over two hours.
The Showcase was, in some ways, as Walter Baxter, father of Neon Pandas drummer Dakota said, “a chance for girls to scream their heads off.” But it was also an inspiring and uplifting opportunity to see what happens when girls can proudly say, as did Lily (a.k.a DJ Rowl’ of CRASH!), “it’s awesome, I love having all eyes on me!”
It was a morning of total girl power with a pre-show soundtrack of lady rockers like Veruca Salt and the Eurythmics. The merch table featured GR!DC t-shirts, stickers and totes — as well as some cool handmade buttons from the CRASH! crew. No booze was served at the bar, but Food Food did brisk business with cupcakes and nachos. Photos from this year’s camp slid by on the stage screen.
The audience was mostly made up of supportive family members like Deidree Bennet, whose twelve-year old twins Dalai (vocals for The Uncontrollables) and Maya (DJ Fireball) were at camp for their fourth summer. “They talk about rock camp all year long,” the proud mom said. Baby siblings dotted the crowd, some sporting ear muffs or headphones to protect their wee eardrums.
The gig was launched with a dynamic introduction by the all-volunteer, non-profit GR!DC, during which we learned that the Showcase is the culmination of a week of Rock Camp where seventy girls aged eight to eighteen participated in what volunteer Yiming Roberts called “an empowerment camp cleverly disguised as a rock camp.” Besides learning how to play an instrument, rock a turntable, and belt out tunes, girls are exposed to an enviable range of activities including workshops on social action (“If You Don’t Like It, CHANGE IT!”) and women’s history, as well as daily, live lunchtime performances by local female musicians.
Campers form bands, and are coached by volunteer musicians to write and perform original songs and craft DJ sets. During band practice each afternoon, the girls fine-tuned their original songs (one per band) and honed their acts. For many, it was the first time they’d played a musical instrument or sung on stage, so the progress made in just one week was impressive. Their hard work shone on stage as bands including The Black Daisies, Sensational Music Force and Toxic Love cut loose.
Rockin Flamez kicked things off as pint-sized DJ AA and statuesque DJ Lil’ Sunshine traded places at the turntable and geeing up the crowd. Band sounds ranged from grunge to pop to soul and songs really ran the gamut. There were spirited tributes to camp — like Neon Pandas’ “Girls Rock! DC is where I wanna be…” — while Devilish Scorpions enthralled the crowd with the ballad “Angels and Scorpions” and its catchy chorus “Angels and Scorpions baaatttle, Angels and Scorpions fiiiiggghhht.”
Thanks to an efficient and agile volunteer stage crew, the shift between bands was possibly the fastest the 9:30 Club has ever seen. Once offstage, musicians were escorted across the club to the “Moon Room”, where they were greeted with cheers from their counselors and reunited with family members.
Onstage, girls rocked on. The Uncontrollables had an indie sound and some grittier lyrics — “You can’t control me / I’m a freak of nature / I am uncontrollable / Avert your eyes” — though they ended their set with a friendly “we love you, D.C.!” Next up was Dynamite Angels, whose bass guitarist Amara T. got the whole club cheering as she teased them with the riff from “Seven Nation Army”.
Chardae W.’s powerful vocals resonated with LOL Angelz’s eighties sound, and her pride was evident as she introduced band members, concluding with “and on the mic, yours truly, the shining star!” That was it for the bands, but the show wasn’t over. CRASH! leapt on stage with their DJ laptop and kept the whole house rocking. DJs Rocque, Rowl’ and Fireball demanded crowd participation and got it. Fireball lived up to her name and, when not dancing like crazy, pressed hands with the crowd and held out the mic for vocal contributions from eager audience members.
Then it was time for the finale, and all of the campers, counselors and other volunteers crowded onstage to sing the camp’s official song: “We’re the Girls of DC and we’re ready to rock!” The rousing anthem was the perfect end to the day as the girls belted out: “Now I know I can do anything, come on everyone get up and dance, ‘cuz the future of rock is in our hands!”
The mood was a little melancholy as the crowd dispersed into the rainy afternoon, echoing the sentiments of Atomic Jelly Turtles’ singer, Skye.
“It felt really great. It was really fun, and it really kind of sucks that I can’t do it again ’til next year.”
You can support Girls Rock! DC by donating time, money or stuff. Visit www.girlsrockdc.org for more information.
