After taking last year off, it was great to make it back to this event. Over 400 tattoo artists from all over the world taking up three floors of one of the most storied cruise liners in the world provided the comforting symphony of buzzing and humming I have grown to feel at home hearing. It was refreshing to see so many familiar faces of some good friends, business associates, and amazing artists. We made our way to the Sailor Jerry air streamer and made good with the local and national teams that were all there for the festival. It was one of the kick off events for the HOLD FAST tour and everyone was excited. There was plenty of rum and smiles all around. They were also taking photos for the Sailor Jerry Photobooth, which was a lot of fun.
After getting settled and checking in with the rum folks, we make the rounds visiting the handful of our accounts and made sure they were all ok and seeing how things were going for them. We worked with one of the key local shops that are old acquaintances of mine to do a mini store for them. It was great to see some of the new tees there and looking good at their stand. I got to see my pals from Switchblade Stiletto, Paper Doll, Layrite and Tres Noir all while enjoying some rather potent Sailor Jerry punch thanks to Dana Dynamite from 15 Minutes and Jae form Malbon Farms. Good looking out guys! Was super to have time to hang out and kick it with Vicky Cupcakes and Christine Fury (Sorry I am not as skilled at zipping up dresses as Vicky!!)
It was at this point the theme of the afternoon seemed to somehow switch to Drink N Iron. There was beer, a fair share of it actually. Then there was even more rum. Then some more rum thrown in for good measure just to make sure. I can’t say it was a bad way to spend the later part of the afternoon and into the evening. It quickly helped me forget I had started this journey at 2.30 AM California time that same morning.
Around 9pm, I made my way to the bottom floor of the ship to finally get some work by Dre Perales. This guy has been hustling like mad over the last few years and perfecting his craft. There is a reason this guy is one of the rising artist in the USA, if not in the whole world of tattooing. Overall it was a great event and already looking forward to next years fun! TO check out some of the cars from the show, you can check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebreed/sets/72157626867960981/
The Vast Parlor 