Musink, the annual tattoo and music festival, is now in it’s 7th year and this is past Friday was my 3rd time attending the event. It’s always a fun experience and the people behind the booking tend to get some awesome bands from year to year. Unfortunately I could only go to 1 of the 2 days I wanted to go but that one day was pretty amazing. I would have killed to go Sunday as well but my actual job had other plans. Either way, you can never go wrong with The Descendents! The set up of the festival is pretty basic and easy to get around which is always a plus. Upon entering you’re greeted by free energy drinks,a few food vendors and a skate ramp. As you get deeper you can hit up the tattoo exhibition floor on the left or the bands on the right. I personally wouldn’t get a tattoo while going to a show, mostly because I tend to watch bands as close as I can whenever possible. So trying to take care of a tattoo while being crushed by sweaty bodies does not sound fun. However, for those willing to watch in the back, it could end up being an awesome idea.
Skating is still cool right?
The Vandals went on before The Descendents and put on a solid performane. They started off their set with Cafe 405 in honor of being in Orange County before they started taking requests from the crowd and basically playing the hits. The band delivered their brand of wackiness throughout the set and got some laughs from the crowd in between songs. Even in spite of all the chuckles there were still people angry enough to get in a scuffle as things got heated between two old dudes trying duke it out. Luckily the crowd diffused the fight and no one seriously got hurt.
After The Vandals wrapped things up there was some down time in between bands so I scoped out the exhibition floor a bit. There was a plethora of tattoo artists and people looked pretty stoked on their new tattoos. After giving that area a quick glimpse I made my way back to the stage area just before the descendents kicked off their set. This was my fifth time seeing them and it was still just as good as the first, if anything it was better. There was a minor sound issue the first song or two but thankfully the sound crew got their act together. The band plowed through an amazing set and played just about every song you could ask for. At this point I’ve heard every Descendents song that I’ve ever wanted to hear live at least once save for “Christmas Vacation”. So while the set list for the night was beyond fantastic I couldn’t say it was perfect. However, I will say that their cover of “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene”, originally by the band X, almost made up for the omission of my favorite Descendents song. One day I’ll hear that song live…One day.
I would have to say that out of my 3 years going to Musink this was easily my most enjoyable experience. I would say mostly due to the fact that The Descendents played. Although the line up overall for the whole weekend was pretty damn awesome which was due in part to the festival’s sponsor, Travis Barker. The fact that the festival added some hip hop to the mix was a nice change of pace. I’m not a Tech N9ne fan by any means but I know he has a huge following and puts on a great show. So just having him headline a hip hop day adds something the fest was lacking in years past. Hopefully in the future we can see more of the same from the line up.
The one real criticism I have is the food selection, it could be better. None of the options around seemed all too enticing to be honest. Perhaps score a food truck or two in the future? I know that the OC Fairgrounds, the location of the festival, has food trucks stop by every week. Why not get one or two be on site for the fest? Even in spite of this small qualm I say the event is worth attending if you’re into the music or looking for a tattoo.
Now have a picture of Milo(speaking of pictures, all pictures are courtesy of Desiree Garcia)
