Every spring since 2015, (excluding 2020, of course) the Night of Rock concert has happened at HB Woodlawn. Open to all APS students starting at the middle school level, Night of Rock is a chance to showcase your musical taste, talent, and songwriting ability.

I asked Dan Paris, the sponsor and songwriting teacher about the history of the event, “During the early 1980s, punk bands in the Washington DC area weren’t welcome in many local clubs. Some H-B students got the idea to invite these punk bands to play in the H-B cafeteria. Bands like Minor Threat, Artificial Peace, Government Issue, DOA and many more played shows there. Fast forward to the fall of 2015. I’d been working at H-B for about a year. We had started a Songwriting Club in September. During one of the meetings, a couple of the juniors brought up the idea of bringing back rock shows to H-B. So, we made a plan to have a show in the spring. We called it ‘Night of Rock’ initially, with the idea that we would change the name when we thought of something cooler. Well, the Night of Rock name just kind of stuck. We spread the word to the other APS high schools and middle schools. We had eight bands and solo acts for that show. It’s grown every year since.”

Night of Rock has also provided an opportunity for students to form bands and have a deadline and motivation. Speaking from experience, when you try to play in a band without any shows to look forward to, it’s easy to lose focus and eventually break up. One example of a band that has been cultivated by HB’s Night of Rock is Soda Pop. Started just to play music at Night of Rock, Soda Pop are now playing shows outside of Arlington and even recording at the famed Inner Ear Studios. They’ll be the headliner for this year’s show, which starts at 7pm on Friday, the 25th of April.