THE MINISTRY OF STEAMPUNK
Sunday Evening
The Major's Soiree
The Drill
doors 7pm | event start 7:30pm | age 14+
The Major is a simple soul. All he asks in life is to host a variety evening with a selection of the finest performers in the Steampunk world. This year's soiree will be no exception...
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Who will be performing? Well The Major doesn't like to reveal everything at once, but to whet your appetite, we have his permission to reveal that amongst others you can expect to see...
Madam Misfit
Madam Misfit's music is a concoction of electroswing, dub step, funk and chaphop, all wrapped up with humour and pizzazz. She has been wooing Steampunk (and other) audiences around the UK for some while now, giving the (ahem) 'gentlemen' of chaphop a fair run for their money. We last saw her play a fine set at the Asylum Decodance in 2022 and can't wait to hear her again at this years' Major's Soiree.
The Brass Brothers
Steampunk's brassier cousins of the Blues Brothers, Jacob and Elwood are sure to get your foot tapping to some familiar tunes with lyrics 'adjusted' (shall we say) to the Asylum audience. You will see why they are fast making a firm impression on the Steampunk scene.
Public service announcement #1
Please do not under ANY circumstance encourage The Major to do 'The Bear Dance' or it could all end up very messy. You have been warned.
Public service announcement #2
Please do not under ANY circumstance bring a squirrel with you to the event. There will be quite enough 'interpretive dance' going on without that.
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Time Travellers - A night of not one, not two, but three headlining bands
The Engine Shed
doors 7pm | event start 7:30pm | age 14+
Sometimes at The Asylum we put on a headlining band at the Time Travellers gig with one or two support acts, but this year we decided to go not one, but two steps further - by putting on three headline bands in one night.
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So who are the bands? OK, in no particular order we have....
This is a Asylum 13 and Thomas Benjamin Wilde's sweary anthem 'I've no more f***s to give' has been (at the time of writing) viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube. That's a million views for each Asylum, which you will agree is a lot! But there is so much more to Tom's repertoire, which is simply brimming with fabulous lyrics underpinned by superb musicality and a pretty natty dress sense too. A true headliner in every sense of the word.
In the '2 Legs' category, we have...
Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq.
In the '4 Legs' category, we have...
Frenchy & The Punk
In Frenchy and the Punk’s latest release, Zen Ghost, they conjure their own genre-bending blend of gothic folk pop, post-punk and alternative cabaret. Formed in 2005, and embraced by the Worldwide Steampunk community since 2009, this multifaceted NY-based dynamic duo takes the listener on a veritable time machine excursion, at one moment to a retro dimly lit neon lighted dance club and then another to a soirée on the River Seine and yet another to a séance deep in the forest on a crisp Autumn night.
French born vocalist Samantha Stephenson sings with a gothy heft and authority that fans and reviewers liken to Siouxsie Sioux and Grace Slick all while smashing percussion with rhythmic and metronomic accuracy forged during her years of dance training. Former punk rock bassist turned guitarist and live looping master Scott Helland weaves his spidery electro/acoustic guitar melodies and cheeky garage noir riffage to perfectly complement Stephenson’s vocals. Their performances animate a sonic thread through diverse moods, captivating the audience with their spellbinding brand of original music.
Named among the Top 25 duos by Yahoo music Blog, they have shared the stage with divergent alternative acts like indie rock stalwarts Dinosaur jr, 80s hit makers Thomas Dolby and Toyah Wilcox, fellow New York based Goth king Voltaire, Celtic drum ’n bagpipe heroes Albannach, dark wave favs Cruxshadows and German pagan folk artist Faun as well as scene favorites Abney Park, Steam Powered Giraffe and The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing. Equally at home on a festival stage as in a small intimate venue, the duo has toured across the U.S., Canada, UK, Europe and West Africa.
And performing in the '6 Legs' category, we have...
Victor and the Bully
Armed with a devilish steampunk aesthetic and bringing in a thunderous twisted sound of Guitars, pianos, violins, trumpets and anything we can throw in the mix, ‘Victor and the Bully’ create a Carnival blend of music inspired by pop, punk, swing, mariachi, classical and metal to blow the cobwebs away and get the feet tapping!
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The Hunting of The Snark - Feature Film
The Assembly Rooms
doors 7pm | event start 7:30pm | age 14+ after 9 pm
Film certificate expected to be PG
Join director Simon DaVison & friends for a special showing of his new feature film - The Hunting of the Snark.
The Hunting of the Snark is a surreal, steampunk expedition… into the mind of Lewis Carroll! It’s a brilliant wonderland mix of nonsense, twisted logic and dreamlike adventure.
Set against the background of tumultuous Victorian scientific discovery it is also about the human search for meaning and an understanding of the universe.
A ragbag of steampunk, Victorian explorers lead by the peculiar Bellman, land on a mysterious island hoping to hunt down the Snark. They arrive brimming with over confidence but soon discover the island is not what it seems. What is true? What is nonsense? The ever shifting landscape seems almost alive and the mythical Snark is always just out of reach. One by one the crew are thwarted in their quest. Only the unlikely Baker with the assistance of Hope, comes to understand what the Snark really is.
‘It is, without question, the finest and most imaginative interpretation of a Carroll work since Jonathan Miller's 1966 BBC TV film of ALICE IN WONDERLAND! Witty, intriguing and totally immersive!’ – Brian Sibley
In his talk Director Simon DaVison reveals details about the making of the film and the ideas behind it, especially Carroll’s constant prodding of logic versus nonsense.
What I tell you three times is true!
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