Brightest Young Things

Photos by Shauna Alexander

When you first stepped into the dimly lit mainstage hall, it looked like just another packed Saturday show at the 930 Club. People stood squished up against the stage and filled the room, shoulder to shoulder, all the way back to the soundboard. The clapping and chanting, little girls squealing, fists thrust into the air, concertgoers propped up on each other's shoulders -- you'd think 930 had jumped the shark and booked Justin Bieber.

But the screams weren't for some over-hyped, uber-coiffed teen dream boy. The girls lining the 930 balcony, the beaming parents and grinning hipsters in the audience, the tykes shouting from atop their parents shoulders were all cheering for their friends, daughters, sisters and next-big-thing rockers at Girls Rock! DC's 2010 Showcase.

For the past three years (check out photos from last year here-ed), Girls Rock! DC has assembled an impressive army of Washington, DC area volunteers to work with a group of girls aged 8-18 for one week during the summer. During that time, the girls learn everything there is to know about "taking over the world (of rock!)" from the foundational -- empowerment, self-confidence, the history of women in rock, gender and identity -- to the more practical -- playing instruments, DJing, booking shows and dealing with the media.

The camp culminated at the 930 Club with 71 enthusiastic, energetic and terribly stylish girls showing off the lessons they had learned in front of an audience of adoring fans. "This is the best show I've been to all year!" was not an uncommon revelation.

Each band  and DJ crew had an impressive name (Rainbow Eyeball Rockitz anyone? how about Strawberry Fireballs? J!NX? Silent Dynamite?) and a distinctive attitude and musical style. After an introduction from one of the many dedicated GR!DC counselors, the girls would jump into an original song  or DJ set that had been written, practiced and perfected over the course of two days.

The songs were a mix of Joan Jett, Liz Phair and Ke$ha. They counted phrases on their fingers, tapped their feet to the beat, thrummed basses as long as they were tall, broke drumsticks, rocked their headphones, stretched their hands to reach C chords and jumped around on stage like true rocker gods, exhorting the crowd to "GET LOUD!" and "CLAP YOUR HANDS!" We were only too happy to oblige.

In the end, Girls Rock! DC is all about girls finding their own distinctive voice, supported by their bandmates and the community around them. So in deference to that, here are the girls, in their own words:

Alicia, of the VIP's (Very Important Prockerz) sang a tribute to her mom over a rockin' snare beat and crazy keys that went like this: "I love you mommy/ I love you mommy / You're the best mother ever and I will always love you."

Karis,10, of the VIPs explained what a Procker is: "An artist who does an awesome combination of awesome rock and awesome pop and turns it into a very catchy, very awesome style."

And talked about being a 3 year veteran of the program: "It's nice because they always change it up and there's always something new, always new people and you always have a different band. And it's just fun to meet people who share the same passion for music."

Anamarie, 12, and Allegra, 11 of Unshushed & Unknown discussed their Girls Rock! experience:
Anamarie: "You have the whole rockstar experience. You can form a band, get your band known, get to record your songs, play at the 930 Club. It's really awesome and it's all in a week."
Allegra: "There's more to it, too. It's not so much music as it is girl empowerment. So they show you a lot of stuff like Women Who Rock in History and the body-image workshop and a media workshop."
Anamarie: "And every day has a different theme. Why you rock, why other people rock, showing the world how you rock. It's just disguised as a music camp."

DJ's of America Quinn (DJ Thriller, 9), Sophia (Gold Sizzlin' Sophia, 8), Taela (DJ Rocque, 13) on how they came up with the crew name DJ's of America:
Sophia: "Well Taela came up with it."
Taela: "I just made it up."
Quinn: "Yeah and we had like three, we wrote down a list of three names and voted."
Sophia: "And me and Taela voted DJs of America."
Taela: "And she voted Golden Girls which we were like no, that's a TV show for old people."

Lea, 11, Jazzlyn, 10, and Comba, 12, of Strawberry Fireballs told us how they came up with the lyrics to their song:
Comba: "Originally we were just fooling around and she started saying, because we were really hungry..."
Jazzlyn: "And I love CHEESE!"
Comba: "So I went home and made this very rough draft and then we all added in stuff and 'Hey Mr. Pizza, I'm gonna eat ya' was KC's idea [KC is a counselor]. And Natalie loves fried chicken so we had to put chicken legs in there. 'Let's have a party with chips and dip. How about Smarties with something to sip.' I kinda put that together."
Lea: "And I did 'Don't lie I know you have fries.' "
Comba: "But this was really collaborative."

Jade (aka DJ J-Bird) of Silent Dynamite hypes up the crowd:
"How's everybody doing tonight??! Oh sorry, I mean, this morning. Can we please have a moment of silence for a legend has been born... Silent Dynamite!"

And everyone, all together:
"G-I-R-L-S We Rock!"

To learn more about Girls Rock! DC check them out at http://www.girlsrockdc.org/

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/3: Live DC: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour @ RnR Hotel
• 2/3: LiveDC: Smith Westerns @ Black Cat
• 2/2: PHOTOS: Elizaveta @ Jammin' Java
• 2/1: PHOTOS: H Street Karaoke Championship
• 1/31: LiveDC: Carsie Blanton @ Black Cat
• 1/31: LiveDC: Loose Lips/ Lightfoot/ Paperhaus/ Ugly Purple Sweater @ Black Cat
• 1/30: LiveDC: Jeff Mangum @ Lincoln Theatre
• 1/30: LiveDC: Coeur de Pirate @ 930 Club
• 1/26: LiveDC: Ryan Adams @ Strathmore
• 1/25: LiveDC: GHOST @ RNR Hotel