The steampunk dress code, event organiser Tarik Elmoutawakil observed, “encourages decorum – and debauchery,” but the Marlborough Theatre crowd seemed mellow and friendly, ranging from an adventurous aviatrix to piratically handsome top-hatted dandies.
One inventive attendee contrived an intriguing plasma-ball hat decoration, sparking as curious fashion fans reached out to touch it.
Comperes the Young Hanoverians filled in time between the diverse acts with confusing poetry and a cardboard screen representing Prince Philip that burst into jolly empire-building songs.
The Henry Brothers, a disconcertingly cheery duo, played a set consisting of “the traditional death songs and murder ballads you love so much”.
The endless round of first-person songs about disposing of bodies in rivers were lightened with a Edward Gorey-style rendition of the saccharine death song Two Little Rosebuds.
The Perhaps Contraption, faces painted like angry clowns, took to the stage with blasts of discordant art-rock, although by the end of their set, which featured sandwiches, limericks, and a cover of the Oompa Loompa song, a good-natured crowd were bobbing around on the dancefloor.
Coda Luna’s virtuoso violinist blended with clarinet and accordion to create an infectious Gogol Bordello-meets-Madness knees-up.
As the overheated space put the steam in steampunk, the audience became part of the show, from corseted vixens to the card-sharp Mad Hatter, spats dazzling as he danced the Charleston in the style of Michael Jackson.
Hobbit-like beatboxer Cosmo, pipe-smoking poetry recitals, and electrical current experiments brought this eclectic day to a close.
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