MUSINK Tattoo Convention & Music Festival – Day 1 – at The Orange County Fairgrounds – Costa Mesa, CA

Friday afternoon was cloudy, windy, and rather cold, but while the weather was feeling a bit melancholic, passionate tattoo fans and fanatics made their way to the Orange County fairgrounds in Costa Mesa for the 3rd annual Musink Festival, which hosts live music events, over 100 known and unknown tattoo artists, and familiar names in the world of skateboarding performing their tricks on a large half pipe. Hosted by Small Paul and the Original True Tattoo, Musink maintains all the events and spectacles of the festival similar to Vans Warped Tour, except smaller and spread out only within 3 days. The first day to kick off the 3 day event consisted of 9 bands which included: Six, Laconic, Union Sound, Wolfbane, Mindriot, Good Guys In Black, Mike Vallely/By The Sword, The Unfortunates, and The Cult. All bands played within a time span of 8 hours and provided the music to an event artistic in more ways than one. Musink has singlehandedly diminished an outdated taboo concerning the art of tattoos by spreading knowledge, awareness, and showcasing the talent it takes to be a part of a world as creative as the world of tattoos.

Musink opened its doors around 2pm, which out of the 3 day weekend, is the shortest day of the festival. Regardless, upon arrival, it was surprising to see that many people were already inside the large "Ink" room seeking out tattoo artists and watching them at work. There were many booths set up inside, in fact, the entire room was tattoo booth galore. Fans of TLC's LA Ink were excited upon realization that the show's former cast members Nikko and Amy were both present on the first day. While being the main feature of the 3 day event, the "Ink" room was only one remarkable aspect of the entire festival.

At 3pm, the first band of the day Six took the Jagermeister stage, which few of the event goers witnessed, largely because of the band's time slot. An hour later, Laconic went up on the same stage and performed for a small but eager crowd. Laconic had a New Hardcore feel to them as the vocalist screamed out lyrics in a Metalcore manner. The double pedal added fierce beats, and had the crowd been bigger, the band would have had guaranteed hardcore dancing. The set was thirty minutes long, which was short, but the band used up the short time productively and vigorously.

After Laconic's set, a couple of amateur skateboarders hit the half pipe and practiced tricks or skateboarded on the half pipe for the mere enjoyment of it. Adjacent to this spectacle was a large building called "The Mall", in which many booths were set up to sell clothing, accessories, and other miscellaneous objects interesting and appealing to tattoo and punk rock lovers. A few tattoo booths also took up space inside, and were dealing with customers and tattooing others just as in the "Ink" room. At the very end of the building, there was a sign that read, "Small Paul Presents Musink Art Exhibit Sponsored By: Sullen", and included art by Jack Rudy, Filip Leu, Bill Salmon and other artists.

Outside "The Mall" were other booths set up, which consisted of food, clothing, alcohol vendors, and even KROQ and Johnny's Saloon had booths outside. Around 5pm, the Union Sound approached the Jagermeister stage and introduced themselves. The Union Sound consisted of a vocalist, a guitarist, and a young man behind a laptop and DJ set. The band played Dance Rock music, and each song's lyrical content pertained themes of shots and alcohol, ultimately making appropriate and entertaining Dance music. Vocalist Bret James at one point even upheld the band's dancey music by fist pumping during the set. The crowd was still small, but the entertainment level was certainly high.




Shortly after Union Sound's set, people hurried into the "Music" room to watch the hour long tattoo contest which judged several different categories of types of tattoos. The categories consisted of large black and white, small black and white, large color, and small color. The announcer introduced each contestant onto the stage, made each contestant demonstrate his/her tattoo to the audience, and each contestant then proceeded over to the judge's table for judging.

Meanwhile, the Faraway Boys provided the background music inside the room. Halfway through the contest, the announcer brought out 4 attractive pin up girls who remained on stage and provided pep while escorting each contestant on and off the stage.

Wolfbane played at 6pm and generated a larger crowd than the previous bands. The band's heavy metal music attracted the audience and had people headbanging along to the band's music. Strong solos and showmanship carried the band well and impressed many in the crowd.

Thirty minutes later, Mindriot, who won the right to play Musink via a Slidebar battle of the bands, made their way onto the stage inside the "Music" room and began to play an impassioned set. The band maintained music that resembled the type of Rock bands like Nickelback produce, but with an edge. People in the crowd were constantly shouting words of praise and throwing their hands in the air to wave along to the beat of each song. Mindriot had talent and strong showmanship, proving themselves just as worthy, if not more worthy of performing at Musink.

Good Guys in Black performed at 7 on the Jagermeister stage and had the largest crowd of the day for that stage. The band played alternative rock songs which cultivated a sound similar to Limp Bizkit and Insane Clown Posse. Halfway through the set, the band's vocalist Rick Thorne, who is also a known biker, announced to the audience that the next song the band was about to play was dedicated to all the losers who move to Hollywood, and stated that the next song was called, "Fuck Hollywood". The majority of the people expressed great pleasure and satisfaction in the lyrical content of the song, and threw their fists aggressively in the air as they shouted "Fuck Hollywood!"

Professional skater Mike Vallely hit the stage inside the "Music" room to perform with his band Mike Vallely/By The Sword. Vocalist Mike Vallely had a strong personality and performed each song enthusiastically and with great intensity, truly putting in grand effort into his music. Mike Vallely's band went on to cover Black Flag's "Six Pack", and near the end of the band's set, invited U.S Bombs vocalist and professional skateboarder Duane Peters to approach the stage and perform a few songs with the band. Duane Peters and Mike Vallely then went on to play a series of Black Flag songs which included "Wasted" and "Rise Above". When Duane Peters' time on stage was over, Mike Vallely demanded that everyone in the audience applaud Duane Peters and shouted, "Don't fuck with me, I'm down with Duane Peters!" The band ended their set with a Revolution Mother cover, and after the cover was done the band dismissed themselves, leaving the audience in a state of gratification, and leaving Black Flag fans wanting more Black Flag covers.

The Unfortunates began to play at 8:30 and brought on a heavy crowd. The band's sound consisted of an old RockNRoll feel and attitude which captivated many individuals in the audience. Older female fans were dancing and swaying their hips back and forth to the band's skilled old school RockNRoll vibe. The band paid homage to a fallen member of the band and performed a song in honor of him. The Unfortunates' music was uplifting and influential, and succeeded in keeping the audience's attention throughout the entire set.

Prior to The Cult stealing the show, older crowds began to flood the inside of the "Music" room and many older adults were seen wearing The Cult t-shirts. The age group of the audience was dramatically different in comparison to the audiences of other bands who played throughout the day. The Cult attracted an older generation, but the excitement and enthusiasm of that generation appeared to surpass the commotion that the younger crowd failed to display during the day. Before The Cult finally appeared on stage, the prelude song chosen to heighten the anticipation of The Cult's arrival was realized to be the same prelude song The Adicts play before their performances, and the few who knew this fact joked that The Adicts beneath the makeup were really in fact The Cult.

When The Cult finally arrived on stage, hands went up in the air, screams and shouts were high pitched, and body movement all over was wild. The band began to perform their first song, and the audience sang along to every word. The avidity for song after song was immense, and the magnitude of the energy in the room was intense. The audience kept growing throughout the band's set, and it was inspiring to see that the energy never once went down. The Cult's vocalist Ian Astbury sported dark sunglasses which made his appeal to the older women sexually unbearable, and throughout the night, women would take a look at him and go crazy, causing many husbands to comically embrace their wives tighter and securely. Ian Astbury held a tambourine for the majority of The Cult's songs, and conveyed a lot of sass, attitude, and a fierce stage presence as each song played. The Cult's set was an hour and a half long, and once it was over, audience members applauded, whistled, and screamed for more.

The first day of Musink was slow but intimate, and every aspect of the tattoo convention was successful in garnering much attention. While not the most intense day of the 3 day event, the start is only the beginning to a weekend of crazy alacrity that will build up and manifest itself into the festival quickly. Tattoos, alcohol, food, shopping, music... Punk Rock Disneyland is only here for 3 days, enjoy the adventure while you still can!
 

 

-Stephanie M.-
Big Wheel Senior Staff Writer

 

More photos of day 1 can be seen HERE

 
Coverage of MUSINK Day 2 is HERE

Coverage of MUSINK Day 3 is HERE
 


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