Traditionally, rock ‘n’ roll is a male-dominated arena. Minneapolis rock pioneer Lori Barbero noticed this early on as a precocious youth in New York City. Not only were bands male-dominated, but the audiences were.
“When I used to go to rock shows, there were a few times where there were a dozen women at a show and there was probably about 100, 200 men,” Barbero said. “I remember seeing Minor Threat in New York City, and there were probably 2,000 people there, and I remember seeing one other woman the entire show.”
Barbero is an advocate for a greater female presence in rock music and is hosting Girl Germs, a concert Friday at First Avenue featuring local bands — both male and female — playing songs by influential female musicians.
Barbero earned her stripes as the drummer for Minneapolis rockers Babes in Toyland (of which Courtney Love was briefly a member). Babes was Barbero and crew’s vehicle for angst, a predecessor to riot grrrl and grunge with stripped-down punk sensibilities.
Now employed as an assistant production manager by SXSW in Austin, Texas –– as well as tending bar in a honky-tonk –– Barbero is back to host the tribute event.
The roster is eclectic, with groups such as Night Moves covering the Cranberries and Lydia Liza (of Bomba de Luz) singing a Dusty Springfield set.
“They [Girl Germs co-hosts Sally Hedberg and Dana Raidt] asked me on Facebook if I wanted to host, and I said yes,” Barbero said. “I like the diversity of it. I get bored pretty easy if there’s the same kind of music all night long. I like if they throw a wrench in it and there’s a lot of different stuff going on — it seems to entertain me more.”
That’s been evident since Babes in Toyland. Much of the group’s renown came from Barbero’s untrained, primal drumming.
“I had never played drums before, so I taught myself as we played,” Barbero said. “I picked up an instrument when most musicians are retired. I’ve never mastered it — I’m really a backwards drummer. I don’t know how to read music, and I don’t do the typical 4/4 stuff — I’m all over the place.”
Barbero posited that women possess certain advantages in rock musicianship that men lack.
“Women play instruments way different than men do,” she said. “We have a different rhythm than men — like when we walk, we have a rhythm; [we] wiggle. We have all kinds of things in our lives that are [rhythmic], more so than men. Men are more mathematic, and women, when they play, it’s more quirky.”
But gender lines aren’t the be-all and end-all in making innovative music.
“I just hope people keep becoming creative,” Barbero said. “Ninety percent of the music out there, you’ve heard it before. It’s like, ‘I’d really like to hear something fresh and cool.’”
For Barbero, though, the music industry’s practices need changing for continued progress.
“Businessmen who make six, seven digits a year — they do a business meeting golfing,” she said. “Can you imagine if a whole bunch of women got together for work and [said], ‘We’re just going to shop’? What’s the difference?”
What: Girl Germs (hosted by Lori Barbero)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: First Avenue Mainroom, 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis
Cost: $10
Age: 18+
