Courtesy of Abney Park
SciFi/Fantasy Fest
The Abney Park steampunk band is scheduled to play a concert at the Hoover Library Theatre as part of the 2019 SciFi/Fantasy Fest on July 26.
The SciFi/Fantasy Fest at the Hoover Public Library and Hoover Senior Center this year will include a concert for the first time — by a steampunk band called Abney Park.
The band describes its sound as a mix of gypsy rock, electronic dance music, electro swing, industrial dance and Western music. It has performed all over the world, from Russia and The Netherlands to Spain, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Abney Park has released 19 albums, three novels, a role-playing game and a DVD and has played in a variety of unusual venues, including Victorian power plants, restored Vaudevillian theaters, underground Prohibition-era bars and on Victorian steam ships, according to the band’s website.
Their concert in Hoover is scheduled to take place in the Hoover Library Theatre at 8 p.m. on July 26 — the opening night of the three-day SciFi/Fantasy Fest.
Krysten Griffin, the chairwoman (or “overlord”) of the festival, said festival organizers are excited to have Abney Park come to Hoover because the only place the band has performed in this region thus far has been at the Dragon Con convention in Atlanta.
Griffin describes the SciFi/Fantasy Fest as “a celebration of all things science fiction, fantasy and geeky.”
It includes sessions on gaming, comics, writing, cosplay, TV shows, Star Wars and “Game of Thrones,” as well as the popular costume contest on Saturday night, July 27.
There will be a cosplay workshop on how to make pepakura, a paper mache-like material often used to make lightweight armor or props, and a panel discussion with Sneak Attack!, a group of five friends who host a role-playing podcast.
John Anderson, an actor and comedian from Birmingham who played a ravager in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and has had appearances in “Black Panther,” “Sleepy Hollow” and Spider-Man: Homecoming,” will lead a panel discussion on collectibles.
Anderson also will team up with Don Teems, who has worked on “The Walking Dead,” to talk about what it’s like to work in special effects makeup.
Saturday morning activities include a KidCon with a “Teen Titans Go” theme, where children get to visit with people dressed as Teen Titan animated characters and build crafts.
Saturday afternoon activities will include a prop building contest, where teams have a set amount of time to grab materials from a “junk pile” and build a prop or a piece of a set representing science fiction, pop culture or video games, Griffin said. Contestants can sign up as teams or be put with others to form a team.
Throughout the festival, the main auditorium at the Hoover Senior Center will be set up for board games. People can bring their own games or play games provided by the library, such as Settlers of Catan, Munchkin and Fluxx, Griffin said.
Jeff Berry, who has been influential in shaping numerous tabletop role-playing games and is a good friend of the creator of Dungeons and Dragons, will run a Tekumel campaign at the Senior Center on Saturday afternoon. And on Sunday afternoon, there will be a pen-and-paper role-playing game program at the Senior Center from 1:30 to 5:30.
Also throughout the festival, about 30 vendors will be set up in the Hoover Library Plaza, selling everything from science fiction and fantasy books to pop culture art, T-shirts, decals and jewelry.
More than 3,360 people attended the 2018 SciFi/Fantasy Fest, up from 2,100 in 2016, Griffin said.
“I think this is definitely going to be the best convention yet,” Griffin said. “Every year, we get a little bit bigger and a little bit better.”
Partners in the festival include Kingdom Comics, The Geeky Gossips, Magic City Lego Users Groups and a Birmingham-area Star Trek group called U.S.S. Hephaestus. For updated details, go to hplscifi.com.
