The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 

In Northampton this weekend, Ladyfest Eashampton carries riot-grrrl legacy

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }

When Sara Marcus started writing her latest book, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, she may have not been trying to spearhead a new feminist movement amongst young, DIY-minded girls. But half a year later (her book came out via Harper Perennial in September), it's clear that she did, and this weekend's Ladyfest Easthampton in Northampton, MA is proof.

Over three days at Smith College and Flywheel Collective Arts Center, Ladyfest Easthampton (which starts today and runs through Sunday) will feature workshops like "I'm Not The Merch Girl - Putting Out Records, Booking Shows & What It Means To Be A Woman Who Does Things Behind The Scenes," screenings and discussions of films like From The Back of The Room: A History of Women in Punk, plus performances by bands like Hott Mess, Talk Normal, Quilty, and Mirror/Dash  (a.k.a. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon). Repping Boston will be bands including Banditas, Shepherdess, Foreign Objects, and Curmudgeon.

According to 26-year-old Ladyfest Easthampton organizer Erika Elizabeth, Girls to the Front was an "instrumental" inspiration in making this weekend's shows, panel discussions, hands-on workshops, and film screenings happen. When they started planning the festival, several of the organizers were reading Girls to the Front, a book that Elizabeth says shows how the legacy of riot-grrrl "spans into more contemporary stuff and what's going on today, and how the flame of riot-grrrl is being carried."

"There's this renewed energy," Elizabeth said.  The book has proven to be particularly inspiring to a younger generation of girls (myself included) who play, organize, and document music, but were only toddlers during the early-`90s riot-grrrl movement. Coinciding with Ladyfest Northampton, Ladyfest Deep South is happening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend as well. Another similar festival, Clitfest, goes down this July in DC.  (They're not a new tradition though: Ladyfest Easthampton also celebrates the ten year anniversary of a Ladyfest held at Flywheel in 2001.  The first ever Ladyfest was in Olympia, Washington in August 2000, with Sleater-Kinney, The Gossip, Bratmobile, and others.)

Although all of the bands and workshops are Lady-centric, Ladyfest is not just for grrrls: the festival is open to all, and is important for anyone of any gender identity, Elizabeth said. "It's valuable for everyone ... for anyone interested in the role of women in the DIY scene or interested in supporting female musicians. We're celebrating women, but it isn't limited to only women."

For more information & the full Ladyfest Easthampton schedule visit their website and Facebook page.

| More

Leave a Comment

Login | Not a member yet? Click here to Join
 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
All Blogs
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Articles

In Northampton this weekend, Ladyfest Eashampton carries riot-grrrl legacy
Boston Phoenix
In Northampton this weekend, Ladyfest Eashampton carries riot-grrrl legacy
Published 4/15/2011 by Liz Pelly
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } When Sara Marcus started writing her latest book, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, she may have...

more by Liz Pelly
The bike messenger is still alive and well in Boston | May 13, 2011
Protecting your dome in DIY fashion | May 13, 2011
Out: The Chris North Dream Quartet help christen the Haven in Jamaica Plain | May 06, 2011
Sluts for justice | May 06, 2011
Review: Beautiful Darling | May 06, 2011

 See all articles by: Liz Pelly

Follow the Phoenix
  • newsletter
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • rss
OTD Categories
Out
VIDEO: Arctic Monkeys at the House of Blues
Rare Frequencies
Rare Frequencies: Trouble and treble
Playlists
Lady Lee's Lion's Den Playlist
MP3 of the Week
HOMEWORK: Assignment #2: D-Tension
Hot Tix
Ticket On-Sale Alert: Muse, Mariah Carey, Black Eyed...
Latest Comments
Kingsley Flood get more NPR tug-jobs - Hat’s off. Well done, as we know that “hard work always pays off”, after a long struggle with sincere...

By vernongetzler on 05-16-2011 in On The Download

Leonard Nimoy: An Alien from Boston - You and me both, Swash. Anyone out there on the Interwebs have a sound file of the old version? I wasn...

By S.I. Rosenbaum on 05-16-2011 in Laser Orgy

Boston Phoenix holds Ric Ocasek's late-'70s leather jacket for ransom - So bitter! I love it.

By Ryan on 05-16-2011 in On The Download

Leonard Nimoy: An Alien from Boston - I so dearly miss the original intro to the Mugar Omni Theater. The new one with only the female voice...

By Swashbucklr on 05-15-2011 in Laser Orgy

Lisa Nesselson: Cannes report - In reply to Mr. McInnis: Technically, you're correct. But in this context, the woman making the request...

By Lisa Nesselson on 05-15-2011 in Outside The Frame

Latest Comments from On The Download
Most Viewed
E. B. White Audio Casssettes Have a Posse
[nitpick the twitpic + fnx links] Day 2 of Coachella: Arcade Fire, Suede, Broken Social Scene, Foster the People, the desert, and a ferris wheel
[phlipcam video] Suede "Trash" @ Coachella 2011
[coachella] WFNX interviews Will Butler of the Arcade Fire
[video] The Strokes "Under Cover of Darkness" @ Coachella
[live from the wfnx sapporo house] Foster the People, the Joy Formidable, Neon Trees @ Coachella off-site
[coachella] Suede on their 2010 reunion, hating "Stay Together" and playing for thousands of electro heads in the desert
Most Viewed from On The Download
Search Blogs
 
Links
Bradley’s Almanac - Lower Allston blogging and bootlegging since 2001
Band in Boston -
Basstown -
Wayne&Wax -
Aurgasm -
Onward Charles -
Compound 440r -
Anti-Gravity Bunny -
Clicky Clicky -
Soul Clap -
Lemmingtrail -
WMBR -
WFNX -
Beginning To See the Light -
Jump the Turnstyle -
Heads Up Boston -
Loaded Gun -
Enough Cowbell -
Vanyaland -
Ryan's Smashing Life -
On The Download Archives
Monday, May 16, 2011  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
thePhoenix.com
Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Copyright © 2011 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group