Reported by Effie Cotter
The Friday evening entertainment brought us dancing girls, the “punk” part of Steampunk, some light vaudeville and comedy, and Professor Elemental.
The dancing girl was provided by the Osiris Dance Company. I am not entirely sure what correlation there is between “steampunk” and “belly dancing,” but I do know that the two blend together very well. In fact, belly dancing was a very popular medium at the gathering, all weekend, and I am sure I was not the only one appreciating the dancers’ skill and grace on stage.
The Silent Still took the stage next. They are neither silent, nor still, kicking up a rousing rock/punk performance for their attentive audience. Unfortunately for both the Silent Still and the assembled listeners, the house lights remained on for the performance, which limited the transfer of energy to and from the audience and resulted in little, if any, dancing. Per request, they performed Bad Romance by the inestimable Lady Gaga, but the lead singer had difficulty getting through the song without laughing self-deprecatingly. A bit of advice to all musicians courting this particular audience: steampunks love Miss Gaga.
Taking the stage next was the League of S.T.E.A.M., which performed a series of vaudevillian skits, interspersed with a few gentle words from their sponsors. Indeed, selling a health tonic and hair renewal formula from the same bottle does seem a bit far-fetched, but one never knows what wonders a good mad scientist can perform. Perhaps my favorite moment in the evening was during a demonstration of gunplay. Who knew the League had time travel devices, as the balloon held by the assistant exploded even before the gunshot was heard!
Finally, Professor Elemental took the stage. I will leave a more thorough review of his performance for my article on Saturday evening’s entertainment, but let me just say that the professor was, as always: Splendid.