(ALL ARE WELCOME AT THE WONDERPLACE ALPHA STEAMPUNK BALL!)
We asked Grok for Steampunk Ball ideas. We’re busy working on bringing you the best darn Steampunk ball we can humanly create. So it’s on our minds.
Here are some considerations.
What Makes a Great Steampunk Ball?
A Steampunk ball is a sensory plunge into an alternate history where steam reigns supreme and creativity knows no bounds. On a high budget, which we do not have, we would be babbling like mad about the caviar-infused deviled eggs. We’d also be choking on the price we’d have to charge. This ball, on the other hand, is included. Here are some of our suggestions for running a Steampunk Ball on a low budget. It’s about ingenuity:
- Lighting: Use mason jars with LED candles (thrifted or DIY) to mimic gaslamp flicker. Hang brass-painted PVC pipes as faux chandeliers.
- Soundscape: Beyond music, add ambient steam hisses or clock ticks (record these from a kettle or old clock, looped via a cheap speaker).
- Activities: Host a “Tinker’s Corner” where attendees swap DIY gadget ideas, or a “Penny Dreadful Reading” with volunteers reciting melodramatic tales.
- Community: Encourage attendees to adopt personas—airship captains, mad inventors—and mingle as if at a grand Victorian exposition.
For a splurge, hire a small troupe of actors to stage a faux airship crash or a “time traveler’s debate,” adding theatrical chaos to the night.
Famous Steampunk Entertainers. (We have worked with some of these folks. We can recommend all of them!)
If budget weren’t a constraint, these performers would transform your ball into a legendary affair. Here’s a deeper roster:
- Steam Powered Giraffe: Their robotic mime act, with David Michael Bennett’s baritone and Isabella “Bunny” Bennett’s crystalline vocals, blends vaudeville and sci-fi. Expect “Automotonic Electronic Harmonics” to mesmerize.
- Abney Park: Led by Robert Brown, their airship pirate saga comes alive with worldbeat rhythms and industrial edge. “Sleep Isabella” could be your haunting centerpiece.
- Professor Elemental: Paul Alborough’s chap-hop antics—think “Cup of Brown Joy” rapped in a pith helmet—bring infectious humor and danceable beats.
- The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing: Punk fury meets Victorian grit; “Margate Fhtagn” channels Lovecraftian chaos with a Cockney snarl.
- Frenchy and the Punk: Samantha Stephenson’s percussive energy and Scott Helland’s guitar weave a cabaret spell—try “House of Cards” for eerie elegance.
- Voltaire: Aurelio Voltaire’s Gothic baritone and sardonic wit shine in “When You’re Evil,” perfect for a shadowy waltz.
- Emilie Autumn: Her “Fight Like a Girl” melds violin virtuosity with industrial rage, a feminist anthem for the corseted crowd.
- This Way to the Egress: A six-piece gypsy-punk ensemble from Pennsylvania, their accordion-driven “Onward” feels like a carnival gone rogue.
- The Dresden Dolls: Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione’s Brechtian punk cabaret—“Coin-Operated Boy”—offers theatrical rawness.
These acts range from $5,000 to $20,000+ depending on travel and production, but they’re the gold standard of Steampunk spectacle.
Massive, Comprehensive List of Steampunk Songs (Expanded)
Here’s an even bigger playlist for your DJ, blending iconic Steampunk tracks with lesser-known gems and thematic fits. It’s eclectic, spanning folk, punk, industrial, and classical reimaginings:
- Steam Powered Giraffe: “Honeybee,” “Brass Goggles,” “Fancy Shoes,” “Steam Powered Giraffe,” “I’ll Rust With You”
- Abney Park: “Airship Pirate,” “The Derelict,” “Herr Drosselmeyer’s Doll,” “Throw Them Overboard,” “Victorian Vigilante”
- The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing: “Boilerplate Daniel,” “Etiquette,” “Sewer,” “Charlie,” “Blood Red”
- Professor Elemental: “Fighting Trousers,” “I’m British,” “Steampunk Girl,” “Penny Dreadful,” “Animal Magic”
- Frenchy and the Punk: “Caravan,” “Yes I Wanna Go,” “Temple of Sleep,” “Monsters,” “Trick Rider”
- Voltaire: “The Mechanical Girl,” “Stake a Claim,” “Beast of Pirate’s Bay,” “Goodnight Demon Slayer,” “Ex Lover’s Lover”
- Emilie Autumn: “Opheliac,” “Liar,” “Gothic Lolita,” “Swallow,” “Marry Me”
- This Way to the Egress: “Cage Bird,” “Delicious Cabaret,” “Going Home Again,” “See No Evil,” “M.I.A.”
- The Dresden Dolls: “Girl Anachronism,” “Missed Me,” “Bad Habit,” “Backstabber,” “Half Jack”
- Rasputina: “Transylvanian Concubine,” “The New Zero,” “Rusty the Skatemaker,” “Holocaust of Giants,” “Watch T.V.”
- Vernian Process: “The Alchemist’s Vision,” “The Curse of Whitechapel,” “Something Wicked,” “Unhallowed Metropolis,” “The Last Express”
- The Cog is Dead: “The Copper War,” “Time Machine,” “The Death of the Cog,” “Steam Powered Stories,” “Blood, Sweat and Tears”
- Sunday Driver: “Mechanical Angel,” “Black Widow,” “Swan Song,” “Concubine Waltz,” “Jewel of the Empire”
- A Halo Called Fred: “Steampunk Song,” “Goggles,” “Quantum Mechanics,” “I’m a Superhero,” “Tupperware”
- Dr. Steel: “Build the Robots,” “Marionette,” “Childhood Don’t A-Go-Go,” “Planet X Marks the Spot,” “Fibonacci Sequence”
- Ghostfire: “The Last Steampunk Waltz,” “Vaudevillian,” “Hellfire and a Handbasket,” “Black Carriage,” “The Man With No Face”
- The Clockwork Dolls: “The Ballad of Black Jack Jezebel,” “No. 13,” “Raise the Airship,” “Maiden Voyage,” “Ashes to Ashes”
- Unextraordinary Gentlemen: “Black Iron Road,” “Open Arms, Empty Air,” “Mr. Soot’s Black Hand,” “A Counting Game,” “Frozen Moment”
- Thomas Dolby: “She Blinded Me With Science” (retro-tech vibes)
- Tom Waits: “Metropolitan Glide” (gritty industrial folk)
- Roxy Music: “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” (futuristic decadence)
- Instrumental: “Steampunk Revolution” (Derek Fiechter), “Clockwork Tangerine” (Brandon Fiechter), “Waltz of the Damned” (Adrian von Ziegler).
This list could fuel a 12-hour ball! Dig into Bandcamp, Spotify, or YouTube for full albums—many Steampunk artists thrive there.
What Do People Wear? (Expanded)
- Low Budget: Raid thrift stores for vests, blouses, and trousers—distress them with tea stains or sewn-on gears (craft store cogs, $2 a bag). Make goggles from PVC rings and bottle caps. Wrap boots in duct tape “spats.” Women can layer skirts with a cinched belt for a bustle effect; men can sport a $5 bowler hat.
- High Budget: Invest in bespoke corsets ($200+) with brass boning, tailored frock coats with epaulets ($300+), or leather aviator gear with real brass buckles. Add pocket watches, monocles, or parasols with hidden gadgets ( Etsy artisans excel here). Full airship captain regalia—think peaked caps and braided jackets—could hit $500+.
Food and Drink (Expanded)
- Low-Budget Food: Serve “Engineer’s Rations”—hardtack (flour-water crackers), potted meat sandwiches, or “Gear Grease Tarts” (jam-filled pastries cut into cog shapes). Pickled eggs or veggies in jars nod to preservation tech.
- Low-Budget Drinks: Brew tea in bulk (Earl Grey or Darjeeling), serve in mismatched thrift-store cups. “Aether Tonic” = tonic water with a splash of grenadine. Fake absinthe: anise extract in green-tinted lemonade.
- Splurge: Offer absinthe fountains ($50-$100 rental) with sugar cube rituals, or champagne towers for bubbly excess. Pair with “Airship Canapés”—smoked salmon on rye, or mini pheasant pies (catered, $10/plate).
Are Non-Steampunks Welcome? (Expanded)
Absolutely—Steampunk is a gateway subculture! Newbies in jeans can borrow a top hat or goggles from a “Costume Trunk” (set one up with spares). Veterans often mentor, sharing lore like “the Great Steam Schism of ’08” (a fictional feud you can invent). It’s a party, not a purist’s club.
Dancing Style (Expanded)
No rules, but options abound:
- Victorian: Waltz (3/4 time, easy to learn), quadrille (group square dance), or polka (lively hops).
- Steampunk Twist: Add mechanical arm gestures or “steam puffs” (exaggerated exhales). “The Cog Jig” = stomp to industrial beats.
- Freeform: Sway like a broken automaton or twirl like a top—improv rules. Pair with “The Last Steampunk Waltz” for eerie grace.
Etiquette (Expanded)
Faux formality is the game:
- Address others as “Captain,” “Doctor,” or “Lady”—improvise titles like “Mistress of the Aether.”
- Offer toasts: “To the cogs that turn our fates!” or “May your boiler never burst!”
- No need to know real Victorian manners—overact and giggle at faux pas.
Cheap Decorations (Expanded)
- Gear Wall: Paint cardboard gears (cut from boxes) in metallic hues, glue to twine, and hang as garlands.
- Airship Models: Twist wire hangers into zeppelin frames, cover with brown paper, and suspend with fishing line.
- Maps: Print aged maps (online freebies) on tea-stained paper, pin to walls with “ expedition routes” marked in red.
- Gadgets: Stack old clocks, radios, or typewriter parts (yard sale finds) as “Tinker’s Heap” centerpieces.
Toasts, Romantic, and Silly Moments (Expanded)
- Toasts: “To the inventors who defy gravity!” (serious), “To brass and bravado!” (cheeky), “May our rivets hold and our hearts soar!” (romantic).
- Romantic: A couple trades a brass key and a locket under a faux gaslamp, or slow-dances to “Honeybee” as gears spin overhead.
- Silly: A “mad scientist” spills glowing punch (food coloring + Sprite), or a group performs a “Gear Grinding Polka” with clanking spoons.
Famous Steampunk Balls (Expanded)
- Gaslight Gathering (San Diego): Features a “Grand Promenade” and tea dueling, drawing 500+ in corsets and goggles.
- The Asylum Steampunk Festival (Lincoln, UK): 3,000 attendees parade through a castle town; the ball has fire dancers and live bands.
- Nova Albion (Santa Clara, CA): A hotel takeover with a “Steampunk Saloon” and masked ball—think 1920s meets 1880s.
- Waltz on the Wye (Chepstow, UK): Riverside revelry with quirky contests like “Best Beard” alongside a formal dance.
- Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention (Tucson, AZ): A desert twist with cowboy-Steampunk fusion and a saloon-style ball. (Condolences on their recent cancellation.)
Bonus notes on Steampunk as a “gateway subculture”:
The phrase “Steampunk is a gateway subculture” means that steampunk—a subculture blending Victorian aesthetics with retro-futuristic technology, think brass goggles and steam-powered gadgets—acts as an accessible entry point into a wider web of related subcultures or alternative scenes. It’s the front porch to a bigger, weirder house, pulling people in with its charm before they wander deeper.
Steampunk’s appeal often lies in its mix of the familiar and the fantastical. It’s got that 19th-century vibe—corsets, top hats, Jules Verne novels—that feels historical and cozy, but it’s spiked with imaginative twists like airships and clockwork robots. This makes it approachable for newcomers, maybe through a book like The Difference Engine or a steampunk festival. Once hooked, they might explore adjacent subcultures: cosplay (building elaborate costumes), maker culture (tinkering with DIY tech), or even dieselpunk and cyberpunk, which tweak the timeline but keep the inventive spirit. It’s a soft launch into nerdier, craftier, or more avant-garde territory.
The “gateway” part comes from how steampunk bridges mainstream interests—say, historical fiction or sci-fi—with niche passions. Someone might start with a steampunk outfit for fun, then end up welding sculptures or joining a burner community like Burning Man. It’s not that steampunk itself is shallow; it’s just welcoming enough to lure you in, then point you toward wilder paths.
