Raising Steam!

Hello, 

This weeks blog is brought to you by special guest blogger Steven C. Davis, lead author and Creative Director at Tenebrous Texts, presenter of the CPR radio show on Reading4u.co.uk and organiser of The Raising Steam Music Festival. Now it's over to Steven... 

Roll up, roll up, come one, come all to the Raising Steam music festival in Reading.

To either side of you you’ll see some excellent Steampunk traders offering you their wares – take advantage, I urge you. Behind you now is the bar offering a fine range of drinkables; they also serve delectable food.

Preparing themselves to begin this afternoon’s engagements you can see our Masters of Ceremonies for the weekend, Jane Setter and Rob Ramsay, of Crimson Sky and Tinyfish, respectively.

I see you have purchased your ticket through Eventbrite: you could also have purchased it through the Oxfam music shop in Reading.

Over the course of the weekend you shall – for your delectation – be offered musical performances by Metropolis and Thy Last Drop from Bury St Edmunds. Flying down from Leeds, Helicopter Quartet will be opening Sunday’s proceedings while, from Oxford, the Mechanisms will be finishing off the whole weekend by bringing you the tale of Ulysses’ last day.

Singing songs of smugglers and Jack the Ripper, Gladstone hail from Northampton whilst London’s Tom Slatter brings a progressive twist to Steampunk with songs of self-made men and time travellers.

From the deepest, darkest West Country we have Miss Von Trapp opening the whole shenanigans, whilst from Exeter the Mysterious Freakshow will be bringing us into their world. From Birmingham and the Black Country come Birthrite and, from further afield, from the fair land of the Americas, we bring you none other than Montague Jacques Fromage with his SteampunkFunk Bizarre. And, lastly, but with great thanks to them for letting me write this blog, we have the Crimson Clocks.

Get tickets for your friends, neighbours, demon familiars and crew from Eventbrite and we’ll see all of you there! And if you need any further inducement, all profits go to the UK registered charity New Futures Nepal!

Steven C. Davis

Who Was That Top Hatted Superhero?

Hello,

Last night we were at Steampunk Stamford along with headliners BB Black Dog. If the rest of the event was as good as last night it was a fantastic weekend.

We took to the stage just after 7:30pm and had a blast, it was a great audience and a real pleasure to play to them. Our set included old favourites Red Violin and Evil Genius, and some of our newer numbers such as Shadow and our version of Master of The Universe. It was great to see people dancing during Limbo, it does mean of course that one gentleman's hidden superpower (of being able to dance the tango) is no longer secret. Like all true superheroes his identity remains a mystery (at least to your humble scribe) and the question remains, just who was that top hatted superhero?.

Following on from us BB Black Dog played a great set, and it was good to see their new line up. As per the title of their DVD they did indeed steal the show once again with another fine performance featuring some of their most popular numbers.

We would like to thank Lorna for inviting us to play and the work that she and helpers put in to make it such a great event. Thanks also to Axel for doing a great job with the sound during our set and to everyone there for making it so enjoyable.

Don't forget that we can be seen and heard along with a multitude of other bands at Raising Steam in Reading next month. Thanks for reading and until next time, farewell.

An August Occasion

Hello,

Next weekend (Saturday 10th August) sees us heading to Lincolnshire for Steampunk Stamford along with Gladstone and BB Black Dog, tickets are available here. The event features everything from steampunk croquet to steampunked pets and includes an author workshop by LM Cooke and Steven C. Davis.

You may be wondering if Trevor the cat will make an appearance, what the set list will be, whether it will include any rock classics and just exactly who the Evil Genius is. Answers may be provided on the night, the only way to find out is to be there.

Don't forget that in September we will be at Raising Steam which is taking place in Reading, more information can be found here.

Thanks for reading, we hope to see you in Stamford, until then farewell.

Booked!

Hello,

This weeks blog is somewhat brief, mainly because we are still recovering from last nights shenanigans at The Front Line Book Launch.

The evening began with ourselves (Crimson Clocks) and we were quickly followed by Victorian comedy from the hilarious Dr When.

Next came the book launch which included a reading or two and incidental music provided by Jo (with her usual brilliance I should add).

Birthrite then took to the stage with another great set featuring their most popular numbers.

Always good to see (and hear) and a brilliant headliner, Gladstone closed the evening with their energetic presence and songs of curses, murder and insanity to name but a few of the topics they covered. Theft should also be added to the list because they managed to steal the show. It was a blinding set, so blinding in fact that none of the photos we took during it actually worked.

Thanks to everyone that came, and in particular to Steven C. Davis, Paul Gaynor, and Kuldip Kang for their help on the night and Dan for his excellent work on the sound engineering.

Don't forget, your next chance to see Crimson Clocks (and Gladstone) is at Steampunk Stamford and in September we will be at Raising Steam - we hope to see you there.

Thanks for reading, and until next time farewell.

Prepare for Lunch/Launch

Hello,


Next Saturday (27th July 2013) sees us, Birthrite, Gladstone and Dr When at Ort for The Front Line Book Launch. So, there will be music, comedy, literature and even alcohol will be available. As if that is not enough reason to attend, there are also various highly esteemed traders selling a variety of goods.  What more could a person need on a Saturday night? (for decency's sake please note that was a rhetorical question).

Approximate timings for the book launch are as follows

Doors open at 19:00

19:30 - 20:10 Crimson Clocks

20:20 - 20:50 Dr When/Book Launch

21:05 - 21:50 Birthrite

22:05 - 22:50 Gladstone

Tickets are available in advance here or entry can be paid on the door.

In addition to the book launch the Punknic in the Park takes place the very same day in Cannon Hill Park (hence the title of this weeks blog) making Birmingham the place to be on the 27th of July. We hope to see you on the day.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, farewell. 

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 This long lasting product can be used time after time and is available via our website or from the following reputable outlets

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Raising Steam 

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The Heat of The Moment

Hello,

Here in the British Isles we are currently experiencing a mini heatwave, generally this means that it hasn't rained in the last 10 minutes and the temperature has reached the sweltering heights of 14ºC. This heatwave has already lasted nearly 48 hours and reached 24ºC, as a result we expect a water shortage to be announced at any minute. Hopefully it won't get so bad that an ice cream shortage is announced.

Within Great Britain ice cream was a rare and expensive commodity until large quantities were imported during the Victorian era, and it wasn't until 1851 that the first ice cream stall opened outside Charing Cross Station. From there a scoop of ice cream in a shell could be purchased for one penny. So the availability of ice cream within this country is another thing we have to thank the Victorians for.

"That's all very well" I hear you say, "but what has this to do with the fabulous Crimson Clocks?". Allow me to explain, we are currently seated beneath a large parasol within the grounds of Crimson Clocks Tower, eating ice cream rather than writing music and perfecting our craft. Fear not though, as soon as the weather returns to normal we will regain our usual industrious mindset (that will be in about 10 minutes time then), and we are already prepared and eager for our next appearance which will be at the Front Line book launch. In addition, on the same day there will be another chance to sit in the sun at the Punknic in the Park, miss it if you dare. If you haven't got your ticket for the book launch yet then you should act now, this is no time for sitting about in the sun dilly dallying and eating ice cream, swift action is required. Besides if you sit there too long you could suffer from sunstroke and overindulge in Pimm's, and we really would be delighted to see you at the book launch. Having said that, if you arrive bright red with sunburn and looking like a lobster we may pretend not to notice you while surreptitiously staring at you from across the room. Hopefully that won't be the case though.

Thanks for reading, and until next time farewell.