Steamcheese!

Last weekend Mr Robot and I went to Steamcheese, a steampunk event in Frome. I thought it was time I shared a few pictures with you! I'm afraid I'd been working hard on another project for a few weeks and really didn't have the time or energy to work on an outfit, so I went with my old gold dress and a pair of brass goggles that my brother gave me for Christmas. His nibs shaved in his muttonchops and wore tweed.

We decided to be sensible, so Mr Robot took my
photo before we went to the pub!

I really loved Waltz on the Wye, another steampunk event, when Andy and Rachel ran it in Chepstow, and so my expectations were high. To be honest, possibly too high; while at the time I was thinking, "This is okay, but it's no Waltz," in retrospect it was a jolly good day in many ways, and it was fantastic that the people of Frome seemed so friendly and welcoming, and keen to see this steampunk lark for themselves rather than prejudge it.

During the day there was Tea Duelling (to Welsh Imperium Rules) and a market. Ankaret Wells won the Tea Duelling, which didn't surprise me at all as she's an erudite lady with a collection of etiquette books, so if anyone is sure to French Fancy her way to victory (ooh, Matron!) it is she. She also had a secret weapon: moving cat ears, guaranteed to befuddle her opponents. There were some really nice stalls at the market, with jewellery, clothing, crafty bits, homewares... a really nice selection of stuff. The locals seemed to enjoy it as much as the steampunks.

Several drinks down, with two well-dressed ladies: a broken doll, and
one with a fantastic teapot hat. You meet splendid people at these events.

In the evening there was a jolly good lineup of bands: BB Blackdog, Sunday Driver, The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing and Professor Elemental, plus performance poetry from Muriel Lavender and burlesque from Dulcie Demure. I suppose if I'd had to make one major change to the day, it would have been to have something happening in between the day events and the evening gig; I spent the afternoon in the pub with the husbeast, Rachel and Andy, and was a little squiffy before things really got started, while a lot of people ended up wandering off to the park, which was quite a long way from the main venue.

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for nothing: my
favourite act of the evening

The Men... were probably my favourite act, nicely loud and fast. This was the first time I'd seen them, but several other people who had seen them before said the sound at Steamcheese was the best they'd heard for the band. The Prof was also on top form, although his set seemed quite a short one. I was so busy catching up with people, I didn't pay the other acts nearly as much attention as they deserved, although Mr Robot liked Sunday Driver well enough to buy a CD.

Muriel Lavender

Anyway, I drank wine at the gig – BIG mistake – and ended up tipping a pint of beer down myself and treading on one of the ruffles on my skirt and ripping it. Shabby and covered in booze, a sure sign of a good time!

The organisers are running another Steamcheese next year, this time over May 30th to 1st June. If you're in the area, why not come along?

Professor Elemental serenading a member of the audience

All pictures copyright PP Gettins.