These conventions were fuckin’ killer! They had great tattooers, great hotels, good times and Billy and Tony! Billy was a crazy and mildly frightening old-timer who ran a few shops and had a booming voice, big rings, a fucking cane, white beard… the works. Throughout this period in the mid-to-late 90s there were two shows in particular that everyone in the industry, including me and my peers always tried to get to, and those were the Richmond and Atlanta Tattoo Arts Festivals put on by BIRD and hosted by Billy Eason and Tony Olivas. Shows like The National Tattoo Convention, Ink ‘N Iron and Inkslingers Ball sort of paved the way for a convention vibe that had a real friends and family feel, as well as showcasing a blossoming art form. I started really getting into the convention circuit around 1995-1996 and towards the mid-to-late 90s there was already a decent amount of annual national as well as international shows. Now, fortunately I have a family that understands how important those weekends are to me and that if there is something one of us truly loves and is passionate about, that is relatively safe, we should support each other, “If you need to go, I want you to go.” Fact is, I work in a field that has me traveling between six and nine months a year so when I’m home from work it would be a real shit move to tell my wife and kid “alright now I know I was gone for a month working but I’m gonna go to this city for the weekend and hang out with some friends, have a good time and get tattooed.” I know and hear about tons of great shows all over the world. Unfortunately I don’t get to most tattoo conventions anymore.
4th Annual ROC City Tattoo Convention: On the Road in Rochester, NY
Weather you are new to the tattoo parlor or a seasoned tattooing vet, the Rochester Tattoo Expo has something for you. If you have never been please go, if you have been then you know exactly what everyone else is missing.
There is a little known event every year in the flower city, it is the Rochester Tattoo Convention.
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