The right to rock

Edmund Blair Leighton's "The Accolade",
from which the band takes its name.
"I liked the painting because it shows
a woman who is satisfied with a man"
said AccoLade's founder, Dina, age 21.
Quote: NYT; Image: Wikipedia

"The AccoLade"is Saudi Arabia's "first all-girl rock band", according to a profile published by the New York Times (2008) yesterday. The band, headed by sisters Dina, 21, and Dareen, 19, is hoping to play live shows to all-female audiences in private homes, but currently gets their exposure through their MySpace page. Dina expressed hope to the NYT that the band would eventually be able to play "real" concerts: "It’s important for them to see what we’re capable of."

According to the history of All-female bands on Wikipedia, Goldie and the Gingerbreads (1962 - 1967) were the first all female rock band to be signed to a major label in the United States. Whether the 10-12 year delay between the emergence of rock in the United States and the visibility of girl rockers can be compared the Saudi music scene is questionable. The Arab News (2/22/2008) estimates the rise of western rock bands in Saudi Arabia as about 5 years old.

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When I read the news each morning, it's hard for me to not see every story as potential DBlog material. I make a real effort not to confound sex/gender difference news with women's news. In this case, however, I think it's legitimately about gender differences, due to the fact that the NYT article points out the history of male rock performers in Saudi Arabia, going back 20 years, according to the Times has involved raids on clubs, forcible head-shaving, and hundreds of arrests.

The weirdest thing for me about the AccoLade's Myspace page is that there are no pictures of the musicians: talk about culture shock. Still, without MySpace, would anyone but the girls' friends and family know about the band?

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