Music, tricked-out rides and tattoos: Here’s what it’s like to be at Musink
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It never fails to rain at some point during the three-day annual Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival held every March at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. The rain came in waves during Day 1 of Musink, which kicked off Friday night with solid performances by Strung Out, the Adolescents, Fear and Descendents.
By Saturday, which also happened to be St. Patrick’s Day, the skies were clear, the air was crisp (and a little chilly) and the Musink fans came out in droves to completely sell out Day 2.
Saturday’s festivities included the hundreds of world-renowned tattoo artists in their hangars, hard at work applying fresh ink to dozens of patrons. Getting a tattoo at Musink is a unique experience. First of all, there are so many awesome artists to choose from, but they book up with appointments quickly and some of the bigger names are fully booked for the weekend well before they hit the festival grounds.
Second, getting a tattoo at Musink is like getting a tattoo in a fish bowl. As the needle is being dragged across your skin, hundreds of people are walking by to admire the artist’s handiwork.
While a lot of guests specifically attended Musink to get tattooed, others checked out the new and improved Low + Slow Car Show, customized their own Famous Stars and Straps swag, shopped in the various marketplaces, noshed on Pink Tacos and other festival food fare and took in sets by Lil Aaron, the Interrupters, Good Charlotte and Blink-182.
Festival curator and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker was all over the place. He was hanging out with his kids in the VIP area and he could be spotted side stage, tapping his hand on his thigh in rhythm to the Interrupters and shooting video on his cell phone of his son, Landon, who joined Lil Aaron on stage to rap along to a song.
Barker wasn’t the only proud parent on site, a lot of guests also brought their children, who danced and sang along and got temporary or glitter tattoos applied to their arms and cheeks. The adults captured the true spirit of St. Patrick’s Day and drank the venue completely out of the novelty Tecate Light green beer well before 6 p.m.
By nightfall, there were a few sprinkles from the sky and temperatures rapidly dropped, prompting several fans to head straight to the merch booth to purchase whatever hoodies and sweatshirts were left.
Despite having hit the height of its popularity in the mid-’00s and going on an extended hiatus, pop punk band Good Charlotte received a warm welcome, with the audience squishing into The Hangar to see the group and scream – and I mean scream – along to every last lyric to each and every song. People basically went bananas and acted like it was Warped Tour 2001-2002.
Blink-182 received the same reception. Despite Southern California fans having ample opportunity to see the band through the years, dozens of guests were sporting old Blink tour shirts and they were ready to howl along to “Feeling This,” “What’s My Age Again?,” “All the Small Things” and “Josie. However, all of the latest, Grammy-nominated Blink material is sitting quite well with older stuff as “Bored to Death” was sang along to just as loudly as “Dumpweed.”
Musink continues on Sunday with performances by rising hip-hop star Lil Yachty, Machine Gun Kelley, Wifisfuneral and the latest band to be produced by Barker, The Fever 333.
11th Annual Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival
When: Saturday, March 17
Where: OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa
March 22, 2018
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