From Feb. 14 through Feb. 16, the Ink Life Tour made a stop on its national tour in Amarillo. It was chocked full of tattoo artists from all over the country, ranging from the hometown tattoo salons such as The Music Box and Aristocrat to the likes of Amy Nicoletto, formerly of LA Ink. The Ink Life Tour not only attracted tattoo artists, but also brought in numerous musical acts – headlined by Wayne Static, the former front man of Static-X to Smile Empty Soul and Pop Evil.
For those who have missed this event over this past weekend, don’t fret. Let me take you through a tour de force of the Ink Life Tour.
On all three days the Ink Life Tour was held, the price for attending was $39. It was meager, yet in retrospect was fair when it came to the experience the likes of Wayne Static and Smile Empty Soul.
There were four rows in the North Hall of the Amarillo Civic Center filled with ink vendors. In approaching the tables, however, it was a mixed bag. Some of the tattoo artists would personally negotiate a price should a customer go to them for a tattoo. On the other hand, there were some who merely attended the event for the business, not so much the interaction. While their representatives were helpful in some capacity, there were conflicting opinions abound and each artist had their own method of conducting business and answering inquires.
Aside from the ‘meh’ factor concerning the artists, where the Ink Tour Life excelled was the performances brought on by their musical acts, mainly their headliners. While Authority Zero failed to turn heads from what was caught of them, Wayne Static attracted quite a crowd.
Static, even though he and fellow Static-X member Tony Campos have split, played all of the band’s hits along with some featured songs from his solo album. However, the girl who accompanied Static and his band on stage did nothing for the performance. She was merely eye candy as she stripped her clothes, did some goofy choreography and made sensual sounds into the microphone for one of Static’s songs.
Overall, one could sing or scream the likes of “Cold”, “The Only”, and “Push It” – Static-X’s well-known songs. It was a very solid performance by Wayne Static, and what was really cool was that he favorited and retweeted encouraging tweets about the concert after its conclusion.
The next day, it was Smile Empty Soul’s turn to hit the stage. Beforehand, The Prairie was able to interview the bassist of the band, Ryan Martin. I will get to him in a moment, so stick with me. Despite some difficulties for the photographer when it came to taking pictures of the events up close and personal, the performance was well done.
While Smile Empty Soul didn’t entice the audience to move up to the stage, it was helpful that they genuinely sang their lyrics and were calming in a sense. Smile Empty Soul only came out with one well-known song, dubbed “Bottom of a Bottle”, hence the uneasiness with the crowd itself. Despite having some throat issues, the vocalist presented an encore performance to close the show.
After the show was where Smile Empty Soul shined, however. They were courteous to patrons as they personally sold their merchandise and posed for photos with their fans. Back to Ryan Martin for a moment, I had personally thanked him for the opportunity that he gave to The Prairie, which was met with a sincere smile, a handshake and a kind “you’re welcome”.
The Ink Life Tour is a highly recommended event for anyone to attend, despite one’s possible dismay of body ink and piercings. Mostly because of the musical acts alone, it provided an entertaining experience for less than $40. In short, an affordable exhibition of a different, more underground culture that is starting to make strides into the mainstream.
