Brandon Urie can do more of this, as far as I'm concerned.

Now, isn't that pretty? Panic!At the Disco wasn't my favorite act originally, but between this and the Beatles tribute that is their "Pretty.Odd" album, they are going the right way for getting the attention of Thunder-child. And for anyone wondering, the rural American setting makes this more cattlepunk but the steam is undeniable.

Also, the wonderful crowd that brings down Mary is the league of S.T.E.A.M., and you can find out more about them at their official website. Enjoy your Sunday, and ask yourself, "Have I done sufficient for the advancement of Science and re-Victorianizing culture?"

Whoa, Mona Lisa you're guaranteed to run this town. Whoa Mona Lisa, I'd pay to see you frown!

Abney Park Weighs Anchor in Dallas

There are few things finer (particularly for dancing or just general ambience) than world music and rock. Abney Park is a fine source of both, and one of the most personable themed groups around.
They are based in the Pacific Northwest, which makes this Philadelphian's chances of seeing them slim to none. The god (goddess? perhaps) of brass and steam smiled on me, as I discovered in late June that they would be playing at The Church in Dallas.
Fellow privateers, aeronauts, and men of science, it was awesome. There was a bit of a long wait (doors opened at 8pm and I was the second in line) for the band to arrive. At 9pm they started playing La Citee d'Enfants Perdus over the 'stylings' of DJ Virus...and various other mystifying videos. As the hours crept from 9am to 12, we caught glimpses and heard rumors.
"The band is taking pics out front. It'll be a few minutes."
"I heard they had trouble with the sound check. It might take a few more."
Regardless of the delay, they got out there. They opened with some new songs, which indicate (to my mind) a slightly more rag-time, music-hall sensibility which I'm assuming will be the informing idea of "Aether Shanties".

We eagerly await its arrival.

The crew seemed a bit drained, which I entirely put down to Dallas weather. Dallas is not a pleasant place, even in the sheltering arms of the classic Church venue and in the company of Dallas steampunk fans. The heat outside was only slightly better than the previous week. Regardless, AP showed much love to the Dallas crowd, performing encores and throwing enthusiasm into an admittely terrible attempt at "Black Day" requested by the crowd, over Captain Robert's protest.
See what happens when you don't listen to your Captain?
The other songs were excellent, and since the only album I own by AP is "Lost Horizons", I learned something. Something that will probably result in me slinging more cash towards CDs, as soon as moving is completed. And who knows? I haven't visited my married friends in Portland in quite a while and I see they're doing a show in September....

Oh noes! Need to get rid of Abney Park tickets (two)!

I recently made the mistake of buying tickets for three people (two I thought would be in the area) and found that (surprise!) two of them won’t even be in Dallas for the Abney Park concert at the Church. This is a particular sore spot as one of them has a Nice Camera and I would have loved having the chance to take pictures with the band.

The main issue, however, is finding a home for two luffly tickets to the concert in The Church. These tickets cost $15 a piece and I hate people who scalp, so I'm only looking to make sure that someone is capable of buying them. I'll think of something...comment if you're interested in seeing Abney Park in Dallas.

What Should I Do For Costumes In This Economy?

Saint me, I only wish I had better ideas. I know a lot of people get into the genre because of the variety and style of clothes that comes along with it- mad scientists in cloaks, foppish waistcoats with atomic wristwatches, and a dapper chapeau to complement your brass aviator goggles. For many, writing and listening to steampunk themes isn't the best way to experience it- this is a stylistic type of genre, thank you, and pass the brass polish.


If you also lack funds, a lot can be acheived with some leather castoffs, a couple of old vests, and some brocade curtains. Having a friend in theater definitely helps. And recently I came across Rivka's Mom. I recommend as a place to get ideas if you're that strapped or you fear that your interest in steampunk costumes may be a Passing Thing.

So, What is Steampunk? Cont'd

To finish up on settings- I don't know if this will help further in describing the difference between steampunk, clockpunk, and cyberpunk, but here it goes: My quick and dirty guide to distinctions in setting:
If a fantastic garden of singing plants appeared in your backyard, and it was caused by Victorian fairies only visible using special crystal lenses and you devised cases of leather, brass and the crystal to catch them= steampunk.
If the fairies in question are gnomes using wound-up (but still magical) devices to power their garden, which is part of a giant and wholly automated astrogation device that uses nothing more advanced than a simple toothed escapement, and you catch them in a spring trap= clockpunk.
If the fairies are, in fact, an alien species and the garden is one of their artifacts, and you catch them with a vacuum cleaner and wear black goggles to see the radioactive exudia of their skin because they look normal= cyberpunk, especially if you get onto their ship and off of 21st century Earth.

Far more important than the stylistic elements (which sometimes have more bearing on illustrations than on the plot itself) are the themes of the same period that steampunk purports to take place in- that is, Regency-Victorian themes. These themes are the quintessence of steampunk, especially since the literature is an often-idealized version the Victorian era.

Gothic horror stories and the English Decadence of Wilde are particularly evocative of the genre, as are more "brainy" works such as Conan Doyle. Of course, Edgar Allen Poe was also influenced by Gothic-Romantic themes. In fact, his short story The Man That Was Used Up is recommended to people who want to write an effective steampunk suspense story with the majority of the “steam” well-hidden until the end. Be warned: you might have a hard time sleeping afterwards. Of course, part of the reason this story is recommended is because it implicitly deals with a common theme that should be treated in some manner: scientific and moral law called into question. Is it right to keep a man alive beyond the use of any of his natural organs and limbs, as in the case of Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith?
This is one of the problematic questions; other similar ones are raised or grappled with in towering classics like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. For another example of Gothic horror sans science fiction, try George Eliot's The Lifted Veil, which also deals with forbidden knowledge and moral dilemma.

Without generalizing too much (and I have generalized a lot, especially in my first post) we can say that an earnest question to ask in dramatic steampunk is this: Is it right to defy natural law, and under what conditions will a man of sufficient genius attempt to usurp nature and Providence? For the idea of a natural order and Providence needs to be omnipresent in the story- there is the center of conflict. There must be rules before there can be any rule-defying.