A Wicked time in Worcester.

A wicked time in Worcester.

    Out and about again on 20th October (my paws do ache!) this time Gladstone arrived at the rather beautiful city of Worcester and the incredible venue that is The Commandery, the Steampunk weekend was in full swing when we got there with loads of stalls selling all manner of interesting goodies, so we did the thing we do best....shopping!!

Crimson Clocks.

    The music event was a little way across the city in St. Swithun's Hall so we all ended up there where we were treated to beef chilli, rice and BEER!!  First on was Crimson Clocks who treated us to songs from their new CD "Ingeniously Evil" and many more, Linzi was a vision in red (nice boots!).

    Next on was our mates Gladstone, they played all the favourites "Madness of Tilly Matthews", "Night Creatures", "Twisted Lip", "The Curse of Tutankhamun" the only difference was due to the lack of time they were unable to play any covers...aaahhh maybe next time Worcester you'll get the full treatment!!

Gladstone.

    Then to top the night off we had the pleasure of seeing Birthrite who delivered a fantastic set of old and new songs, where does Erazamus get the energy from??

Birthrite.

    Our thanks goes to the organisers of this great event, the wonderful audience, to the sound guys who really did go the extra mile and of course to DJ Mutlee who pleasured our ears with truly wonderful sounds, I've also nicked his photos!! (cheers mate).

    In the next instalment, Hallowsteam........

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An Illuminating time in Matlock Baths.

  Matlock Baths Illuminata & Market.

  Well I was as happy as a dog with two tales as I wandered into Matlock Baths, I've never seen so many Tea shops and Fish'n'chips shops this far from the sea, the town is an amazing Victorian resort and the perfect setting for....The Steampunk Illuminata and Market. Actually the Illuminations have been going on since 1897 but this was the first Steampunk event to be held in the town.
    Kicking off on Friday night among the advance guard of Steampunks was Mr Dale Rowles and Herr Axle Boldt, they played a great set of cover songs including classics such as Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" and Canned Heat's "On the Road Again".

Axle (as I believe most of you know) is 6 feet 8 inches in height, he then played a drum kit built for a 4 year old, it was a sight not to be missed and he played it very well, we even got a drum solo!!

    At 10.30 it was time for Gladstone, on they came with their new mascot James and after dedicating the first song to Tina Sharpe and Mike Bower they were off into "The Madness of Tilly Matthews", the set included old favourites like "Night Creatures", "The Ballad of William Winter", "Twisted Lip" and "The Curse of Tutankhamun". "Jack Hall" went down very well with the audience participating in clapping along to the song as did the new composition by Ms Amy Teacake "Purple Reefer". But as is the way with these things time did sprout wings and fly, all too soon they were playing their customary covers of TMTWNBBFN "Boilerplate Dan" and of course "God Save the Queen", with the shouting of "MORE" they performed "For Whom the Bell Tolls" then it was time to go, suddenly the band disappeared into the night, Cloud landed about 10 miles away with Tina, the Sanders family took in Mr Dave Evil (which was brave!) and Ms Teacake, Paul Shovel Hands and Spook ended up with Cas & David Sharpe who produced an amazing Chilli and rice...mmmmm.

Gladstone meets Professor Elemental.

    Next day the crew of Gladstone could rest and enjoy the delights of the Steampunk market, wandering around stalls stacked with the most ingenious and highly crafted goods imaginable along with dancing from Demolitia Tribal and her Boudicca Revival, in the evening we were treated to the fantastic Professor Elemental who had everyone laughing with his tales of Tea, Monkey Butlers and Being British!! To top the night off we had a riproaring set by BB Blackdog, much head banging and paw stomping later we headed off back to Cas & David's this time with all five Glastones and Professor Elemental and so ended a remarkable weekend our thanks go to ALL of those who organised this event, we can't wait for the next one. I must thank Cas Sharpe, David Broadbent http://www.facebook.com/DavidBroadbentPhotography and Amy "Teacake" Bradford for the photographs, most kind.

This is Sherlock's Dog signing off......TTFN Gladstonians.

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Spook, Teacake, Shovel Hands and Mr Evil with James!

 Mansfield Steampunk Convivial.

    A report from Sherlock's Dog, your on the spot reporter......
    Place..The Intake Club.
    When..29th September.

    What a great place for a convivial I thought as I walked into the club, people patting me on the head and saying "what-ho old thing", very friendly indeed!! There were stalls selling all sorts of goodies from the highest quality leather goods to intricately carved walking staffs (I would say sticks but these were much longer!!) and everything betwixt...

Lady's & Gents...THE COGNEYS

    As for entertainment first on was that mischievous duo The Cogneys with a splendid and hilarious set filled with saucy humour, innuendo and fun (a magnificent pair of Zeppelins!!). Next to tread the boards were my old muckers Gladstone sporting there new mascot James, they played all of our favourites from "The Madness of Tilly Matthews" to "Twisted Lip" through to "The Curse of Tutankhamun" and more besides.The crowd were VERY enthusiastic indeed, by the time they played TMTWNBBFN's "Boilerplate Dan" and the Pistols "God Save the Queen" the crowd were bouncing around most merrily, in fact another song was called for....so Cloud, Paul and Mr Evil gave them a dose of  Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls"...more bouncing about later it was time for Gladstone to depart the stage and on came the wonderous BB Blackdog.

    BB played a storming set with the lovely Demolitia Tribal, which included classics like "Politicians", "Naive Common Sense", "What You Need", the positively naughty "Gimp" and "Speed Dating" as well as new songs such as "The Chicken Song" which whipped the crowd up no end!!

ooohh I say, steady on.....

    All too soon it had to end, but not before Spook Stoker and Dale Rowles had been arrested by what can only be described as a SteamPeeler (or maybe a Policepunk??) but our beautiful female fans (with help from Cloud and Axle) came to our rescue...well nearly!! It was a great night with much fun and merriment, I hope to meet all of my friends, new and old, again very soon (I hope you don't mind me pinching your photos Giles).

A brave rescue attempt from Cloud!

Until next time Gladstonians, I bid you a good day.....

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The Phoenix and the Asylum.

A Welsh excursion and a trip to the Asylum.

   With the cancellation of the Journey to Steampunk festival at the Workhouse still sinking in Mr Dale Rowles of BB Blackdog contacted us to help out the Steampunks who had paid money and were set to lose out by playing a free gig instead and we (of course) agreed!
    A very busy Friday later (Spook moved house that day!) we set out for Wales and the appropriatly named Phoenix Steampunk Festival.......ariving at 1.30am we joined the party, Dale produced his home made wine which tasted wonderful but had the after effect of embalming fluid.

Us with Montague.

We met some great new mates like the wonderful Montague Jacques Fromage and Poisoned Electrick Head, along with the BB Blackdog boys and are mates Birthrite who came on the Saturday morning.
   Birthrite went on first, it's the first time we'd seen the new line up and they were awesome. We were on next and the gig went very well even though we had no Amy Teacake, her poor old keyboard having been destroyed be a fluke rain storm the week before! After us the decidedly eccentric Poisoned Electrick Head performed a storming set, the end result was another after gig party with the afore mentioned embalming fluid which resulted in a night with  hazy memories!!

Birthrite.

Poisoned Electrick Head.










 


Gladstone.

On Saturday 8th September we left for the very much looked forward to Asylum Festival in the beautiful city of Lincoln, here we met many of our good friends, too many to mention but you all know who you are. It was a hot sunny day in the most splendid company, we joined in the world record attempt for the most Steampunks in one place......did we get it.....I have no idea, but it was great fun!
    We were playing in the County Assembly Rooms in cenral Lincoln, first on was the uncomparable Montague Jacques Fromage then Pocketwatch closely followed by that splendid chap Mr B Gentleman Rhymer then Gladstone, we played our usual set and really enjoyed ourselves, it was a real pleasure to play at this great festival. Here's some photo's from the Asylum.....

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The world record attempt.

Gladstone at the Umbrella Fair.

Gladstone live at the Northampton Umbrella Fair.

      PHEW what a scorcher this weekend has been, so, not a time to be stuck in doors! I was off to the park and in particular Northampton's racecourse to that wonderful annual event....The Umbrella Fair. On Sunday 19th Sherlock's Dogs favourite humans Gladstone were playing, it must have been particularly hot because even Spook had his shirt off, to look directly at his bare flesh you needed welding goggles!! But with his factor 5000 on he was prevented from turning to dust, Dave Evil was also turning a little pink, Cloud was just radiating cool, Amy Teacake was glowing gently and Paul was otherwise engaged with his young lady Evie to care....

      Gladstone's set began at 3pm and it began sooo well with a good rendition of The Madness of Tilly Matthews, then Bluey, Night Creatures (went down very well) then at the start of The Ballad of William Winter the heavens opened!! Can you believe it....hottest day yet (maybe), certainly sun all weekend and it rained!! In fact it rained so hard poor old Amy's keyboard got soaked and started to make odd noises and flash unexpected lights, having to swiftly switch it off Amy ran for cover. Gladstone carried on without the keyboard having only to miss out one song (Newgate) which really needed the sound of tickled ivories.

      Never mind these things happen and I hope the keyboard recovers it's wits soon, carrying on the band went through Dr Dexter's Dream, Jack Hall , Hall of the Mountain King and The Curse of Tutankhamun finishing the set with the covers of TMTWNBBFN's Boilerplate Dan and a rip roaring version of God Save the Queen. All in all it was a splendid day out and the gig was great, it was good to see so many of our friends and our thanks go out to them for coming to see us, we hope to see you all again soon, until then here's some photos from the gig (thanks Rob)....

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 Good night Gladstonians. 

Interview with the Vocalist, Gordon "Spook" Stoker.

    I just thought I'd take a short cut through the local graveyard when I heard a moan by one of the tomb stones, as the hair raised on the scruff of my neck a familiar voice said, "'ere Sherlock's Dog fancy a chat?" 

S.D So Spook, what equipment do you fiddle with in the band?

G.S I use a Shure Super 55 dynamic microphone, you know the "Elvis" type....looks and sounds good.

S.D So when you're not barking at an audience what do you like to do?

G.S I read a lot, classics like H.G Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and modern fiction by folks like George Mann, Mark Hodder and Jonathan Green. I also enjoy history books, mainly social history of the 18th and 19th centuries, I've just finished a book on the London mob.....fascinating! 

S.D What has been you're favourite Steampunk event to date?

G.S Hhhhmmm that's difficult as I've been to some cracking places, playing at Steampunk Central at the Whitby Goth Weekend was a milestone for us and very exciting, also seeing Abney Park and Ghostfire in Oswestry then the November Nocturne the next day was incredible. Going to Steampunk events is, for me, like going out to meet old friends, every one is special and everyone is so friendly.

S.D What bands have influenced you?

G.S Well!! My favourite band of all time is The Damned, I was about 12 when I first heard them and I was blown away...and I still am! Other bands that have influenced me are Bauhaus, Stranglers, Hawkwind, The Doors, 13th Floor Elevators and the Velvet Underground, the list could go on...and on.....

S.D How about Steampunk bands?

G.S The first Steampunk band I got into was The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, I saw them in Birmingham and was very impressed indeed, BB Blackdog are a great band and a very friendly band, we've played with them 3 times now and enjoyed every one. I love seeing Ghostfire and I'm pleased Birthrite are back on track and gigging, it's good to see new bands emerging, I really enjoyed seeing Crimson Clocks recently. I take a lot of inspiration from singers like Paul Roland who I think is a genius and is quite rightly seen as a progenitor of Steampunk music, his lyrics are like stories that transport you to his world....superb.

S.D What got you interested in Steampunk?

G.S I first saw Steampunks at the Whitby Goth Weekend in 2010, I was there with my son Richard and was intrigued, so I went home and "Googled" it, I've never looked back! It is odd that I seem to have always been a Steampunk but I didn't know there was a name for the interests I had in the Victorian era but after speaking to other Steampunks they tell the same story, it's as if there was a scene just waiting to happen.

S.D Right! I'm tired of hanging around in this graveyard I'm going home, what would you say to someone just starting out as a vocalist?

G.S Just do it, you don't know what you can do until you try. It doesn't really matter if you're not an opera singer if your voice fits the music and you're having fun then just go with it and see what happens. In the words of the Rocky Horror Picture Show "Don't dream it, be it."

S.D Thanks Gordon, good night Gladstonians........

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Steampunk Summer Solstice

Steampunk Summer Solstice

The Lime Kilns, Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

Saturday 16th June 2012.

    After an early start Sherlock's Dog headed north to the beautiful scenery of Derbyshire and in particular the rock face behind the Lime Kilns pub in Wirksworth. There I was greeted to pats on the head and tickles behind the ears from many of my good friends.
    The event was organised by Andie Brazewell, Dale Rowles and Demolitia Tribal and it included stalls selling everything from clothes to ray guns to cakes, everything a discerning Steampunk would want...including a new frock coat (thanks Donna and Mark!). 
    As  for entertainment....what a treat! During the afternoon we had Mark Haworth II, Stuart Robinson, Harriet McDonnell, the great Whiskey Bob Shaker, John Ferguson's band Beeker, D H Lawrence & the Vauderville Skiffle Show and dance demonstrations from the very talented Boudica Revival.

Crimson Clocks.

    From 6 o'clock onwards we had heavy metal band 3 Second Fuse who's explosive set blasted away the rain (briefly!), then came Birmingham's own Crimson Clocks on only their second performance! They played a fantastic set, with original songs about such things as evil genius's (nice cat Linzi! tick tock, tick tock)

    Then it was our turn and Gladstone were on! We went through our usual set and got a great reaction from the crowd with songs like "Night Creatures" and "Twisted Lip" especially when Dave Evil invaded the crowd and played his triangle! "Jack Hall" had everyone clapping in time and during Hall of the Mountain King our good friend Xander Wood came on stage and did what could only be described as a "Dick Van Dyke chimney sweep dance from Mary Poppins", this led nicely into "The Curse of Tutankhamun" and our last songs.

Cloud delivers the fifth element.

We ended on TMTWNBBFN Boilerplate Dan and the Sex Pistols God Save the Queen much to the audience's delight, we had a great time but all too soon it was our turn to leave the stage to the headliners BB Blackdog. It was the first time I had met the new bassist Mike and he definitely gets the thumbs up, and so with Dale sporting a new pith helmet the boys delivered a great set which was well received by all. 

BB Blackdog.

    The day was a great success despite the rain, it was so good to see so many friends old and new, thanks to Molly Sanders for taking soooo many photos and thanks to Linzi Cooke for allowing me to use some of hers, we'll see you all again soon until then stay safe and keep well.    

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sleep well boys and girls!