It was a lazy weekday morning when Tea Spectral received a peculiar message from Professor Elemental, himself. It went something like "Would you like to do a concert with me?" Being fans, the Tea Spectral team didn't hesitate, and blindly said "Yes!" Invited to participate, we, at first, thought this project was an irresponsible move, but then we got the venue within four days, and, suddenly, Professor said something in surprise we haven't unseen since: "Christ on a bike!" We obviously had to Google this.

(Not actual pic of Jesus)
The reason for the swiftness was the deadline for the impossible: Tuesday night, in only six weeks. The Professor was just being nice, and we couldn't help but geek out. I mean, when does Professor Elemental ever come to Los Angeles for a concert? And if we were never going to see a UK concert by this amazing gentleman, then making one was the next best thing! Thanks to Professor's collaboration, and our Co-Producers, Ryan Jas Arciaga (Actor: Link) and Nate Filichia (Vocalist: Link), we were able to make the impossible miraculously probable. And we supposed that all that was left was the man of the hour.

Fast forward to March 12, we packed everything, got a hold of the busy Professor by phone, and finally heard the man behind the pith helmet. And surprise to say, his manners were exactly the same as his stage persona...but with impeccable common sense. We discussed culture, politics, and comic books. The Time Traveler was a Sage we never expected. His liberal views were not only spot on, but he was so centered, he may as well had been the Rumi of Steampunk. 

To begin, he knew the Conservative views, strategies, and where the confusion began and the extremism ended. Where we thought the line was clear, and being "woke" was us, Professor Elemental enlightened us like a Reddit link to NASA. This MC was deep.

And all this between Dark Delicacies and the farthest Halloween Store - visiting every comic and goth shop in Magnolia Park, in Burbank, CA.

He scolded us for drinking fruit tea, at Panera Bread. He appreciated drinking from a mug though. It's difficult to find a proper cuppa in the US, so we were quite conscious to be legitimate before our English guest. The cream and sugar is life for this man, and drinking herbal was a real issue, not just funny lyrics to a great song. Black tea is proper.

He demanded integrity, dignity, and, above all, a moral stance in our social status. For you see, he didn't just come for a good show, although he couldn't stop raving about how he loved being here in the US, and how he was finally going to meet his fans, at last. No. He was here on a mission.

The night was young, and setup went well. Professor Elemental got himself prepped for the show, and Countless Thousands opened the evening with these brilliant ballads against bigots, politicians, and hesitations in lifelong romantic partnerships. It warmed the heart, tickled the mind, and with the help of some liquid courage, the party was ready for more!
On Professor Elemental's sets, one couldn't help but notice that he sang mainly his original songs. You barely heard any of his new stuff, but who cares, it was fun, right? It wasn't ominous, but growing up in the 90's, one could not help but notice something strangely familiar about this underground rap concert in the heart of Highland Park - a place once known for low income housing and gang meetups. The party was riled up, the audience cheered for anything and everything he threw at them, and they, and we, and this congregation became the arena of said rap artist, chap hop phenomenon, steampunker's private forum. He spoke, and they listened.

He called upon all of us to be ourselves. The distraction of Nazi-sympathizing Trolls have killed our attention from the bigger picture. By upsetting us with Trump and Brexit, we've been cattled to be afraid, and compliant. Not realizing the action we ought to take, how we should be standing up. We aren't the red bull, this big, flaming, and obedient monster to a greedy Lord of a decrepit castle. No. We are the unicorns - bright and majestic, living independent, loyal to only love and the free thinkers we are. We don't fight back by just voting or protesting, we need to stand and represent the society that is supposed to walk the streets without the fear of men raping us, supposed to study without the scare from gunmen shooting at our schools, and supposed to work without the threat of a government shut down. With the obvious recent events, we do concern ourselves to these worries, but the extremity has led us to forget ourselves, in the shade of deliberate frights from the news. We hope that Disney buying Fox out did some good, but we're not in the clear just yet. With as many Democrats seated in Congress now, and with Gay Marriage still in place, there are still too many of us so shy to live with our plus size, mentally healthy, trans-gender, feminist, ethnically mixed friends. They are missed, and with spirits at such a low, morale is hard to come by - especially alone. We need to gather, we need to be weird, and celebrate the oddities we all are. And stop the insanity of constant bullying, when we all know better how to love. Which begs the question:

What are you waiting for?