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Imagine this: You're 10. You just learned to play guitar four days ago. Now you're in a band, and where is your band's first show? Your parents' backyard? Your friend's basement? Your school cafeteria? No, it's at Metro.
Girls Rock! camp has been in full effect all week, ramping up its attendance from a measly 14 girls last year to a whopping 60 this year. The girls have been engrossed in the world of rock music a la Jack Black for the past 5 days, learning to play either guitar, bass or drums, watching local female rockers perform and learning a variety of other band-related skills. On the first day of camp they formed bands, and tomorrow, they get a chance to show their friends, family and the rest of Chicago what they learned.
Not only will all 15 all-girl bands (with members between the ages of 9 and 16) be taking the stage, but they'll also be performing all-original material that they wrote this week.
There's also going to be a special kids-only area roped off in front of the stage, so bring your kiddos or at least borrow some for the day. These newly emerged female rockers need all the audience support they can get.
Girls Rock! Chicago showcase goes down tomorrow at Metro at noon, doors at 11:30. Entry is $6, and all proceeds go to benefit the camp.
Image of GR!C campers from last year, courtesy of the camp.
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thanks for the open-mindedness, spook.
last i heard size was no indication of talent.
Ohn lighten up! ;-) At least I didn’t- especially after listening to the WBEZ story that they ran twice this summer about this "girls: rock and roll camp - make a crack like “Gee I bet they spent a lot of time dealing with the Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley aspect of "Rock and Roll"
I could have, but I didn't. In the spirit of the air and water show!
Good Lord! These are just kids. Doesn't anyone moderate these comments.
Well, spook, the Chuck Berry line would have been better than what you said in the first post. Those GR campers from last year, and current campers, will be reading this Chicagoist post and pasing it along to friends.
JERK.
Can Chicagoist delete post #1, and this one?
Yea and I'm sure Elvira Arellano's son
Saul is reading right along side them, all the racist hateful trash spewing about his mother, even though she's wrong, but still. So got take your self Righteous protest over there
go call for censureship so Saul won't see what they are calling his mother
my goodness - what did we all miss here? seems that some posts were taken down.
if they were spooks, thank you. in addition to being inflamatory and pointless, his posts are mostly incomprehensible.
there should be a literacy requirement on these boards - or maybe an age requirement, since he seems to be 13. which would make this post about his peers.
which brings me back to my original question. what did we miss?
apologies for the lost possessive and "m"
"spook's" incomprehensible, inflammatory posts.
I think if Chicagoist had a “literacy" requirement, I would be almost alone here. You might want to invest in a dictionary "guest"
My crime is I made fun of the "wrong people",
Instead of "these people" as used to describe a certain grouping of people in the Elvira Arellano, and one about the teenager being shot on the westside.
I guess "Chicagoist" protects its own
Is there really a need for a "girls" rock school? Obviously boys are just born with an innate ability to rock..
I want to move to Seattle... it was nice not having to deal with black people pissing and moaning about everything that's really their fault every five minutes.
Good for you guest 10! But until you pack up the U-Hall, feel free to do a little “venting” by clicking on a variety of Chicagoist posts to verbally beat down on Black or Hispanic folks kicked to the “societal” curb.
You might’ve noticed that the more popular posts deal with This segment. Just toss up a funny or sad picture of “them” and let the good times roll! It’s a popular past time, just look at the Chicagoist writers, not including Kevin who is Chicagoist’s honorary minority writer- no disrespect to him.
So yea after a long week or working in the belly (I’m not gonna front and say I’m not decently compensation) of the beast, I see three smiling faces of privilege ( who will get more affirmative action preference than who it was designed for-, please google this if you don't belive me!), enjoying some expensive hipster “rock and roll” camp designed especially for “them”, as opposed to including the children of who’s ancestors invented it and had it stolen from.
And after listening to the same story on NPR twice in a month with the same “voices” as the picture, well excuse me for being a wee bit cynical. I mean couldn’t they've found just one other "voice" to go in pictures or be interviewed? What about a scholarship?
Now excuse me while I go defend, Elvira Arellano. Yea I know I was “against” her originally, but my oh my,how the calm and level headed culturally diverse and sensitive Chicagoist fans go after certain segments of the populations and in those posts they don’t censor, you can let it all hang out!.
I would love to post under my name but unfortunately there is no "Lost my Password" option. I can't be bothered to re-register because I'd like to express myself now.
I was a counselor at Girls Rock! Chicago and I'd like to assure you that the Chuck Berry signature riff was indeed part of the curriculum.
This is a light article about encouraging girls to start playing music while they're young. I know that I would have appreciated the opportunity to learn when I was younger and had to leave home before I could play the drums. I grew up in a conservative Hispanic household. Another instructor said that she was 30 years old before she picked up the guitar. If these stories seem unfamiliar to you then maybe you should be aware that you had the privilege to grow up in an environment that supported you and your aspirations.
And the band that I coached contained 2 white girls and 2 black girls. The three drummers I taught were white, black and hispanic. The instructors were white, black and hispanic. Seminars included white indie bands, a hispanic punk band and a black DJ. Can you just ask questions before making condemnations that are completely half-baked? The picture is from last year's camp and the camp is growing and expanding. And guess what? These three smiling faces are wonderful kids. Real people not just symbols. Stop attacking them with your agenda.
Spook, you should know that it helps to use facts if you're trying to make a point. Inventing facts reveals you for the crazy person that you are. Stop trying to slander something that is trying to make a positive change. All the counselors are taking a week out of their lives to volunteer at camp for no pay. Do yourself a favor and get a hobby. You've obviously got energy to burn and nothing better to do with your time.