Rock on, Accolade!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Very busy day today, which explains a lack of posting on my part, but let me refer you to an interesing article in the Times:

As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock

It's about an all-girl rock group in a country that doesn't much care for girls or rock:

They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom.

But the members of Saudi Arabia's first all-girl rock band, the Accolade, are clearly not afraid of taboos.

The band's first single, "Pinocchio," has become an underground hit here, with hundreds of young Saudis downloading the song from the group's Web site. Now, the pioneering foursome, all of them college students, want to start playing regular gigs -- inside private compounds, of course -- and recording an album.

"In Saudi, yes, it's a challenge," said the group's lead singer, Lamia, who has piercings on her left eyebrow and beneath her bottom lip. (Like other band members, she gave only her first name.) "Maybe we're crazy. But we wanted to do something different."

No, you're not crazy, but you are courageous.

After all, freedom -- and what is rock music if not the music of freedom? -- is a wonderful thing. And Saudi Arabia could do with a lot more of it, most especially for women.

Maybe there's hope yet.