Ink-N-Iron

This is a good niche event. We went to the one in 2015. I do notice it’s an event divided into 2 groups, the participants and the voyeurs. So, you’ll see many people with no tattoos, just checking out the scene, then you’ll see people covered in tattoos. There’s rarely any in-​between fandom with a person with a single tattoo. Most are a bit over the top in excess (from the voyeur’s perspective) with lots of seemingly impulsive permanent ink such as the guy with a «Steve Urkel from the Family Matters TV show» on his leg or folks covered with images in non-​discreet regions so that if «first impressions» are of issue, they can face some prejudices in the mainstream world… BUT, this is about alternative lifestyle and being left of center is where it revolves around, so within this community it seems to be very respectful peer to peer.
The Iron, which represents the motorcycles and automobiles had a decent showing, but not as huge as dedicated car show would have and a lot of the same or similar types of cars.
They have live bands and headliner quality acts performing, so if you’re into that genre of more speed metal, punk, alternative, rock, then you’ll get your money’s worth in entertainment for the price of admission I’m sure. The stages and sound system made it where it seemed you get a great view and experience.
Parking was a bit expensive as was admission (‘tho I think there were Groupon discounts online) for the curious or casual attendee. If you’re to indulge and immerse yourself into the counter culture scene for the entire day however, it could very well might be worth it.
The food vendors were a pleanty, ‘tho prices were high, the portions were fairly large, but in general it’s «fair» (carnival /​festival events) type foods with pizza, grilled meats, hot dogs/​sausages, etc.
The indoor pavilions with the tattoo artists was interesting, and attendees were able to walk around the Queen Mary port and the docked ship. There are a few side show entertainment areas with things like exotic pole dancing (more burlesque style than anything erotic, but I’m sure a few of the girls work at a strip club). There were vendors selling items to buy, so a good solid shopping opportunity too.
For the casual person who likes to experience new things and people watch it’s worthwhile, but probably something you do once from a «been there, done that» perspective.

Everything was great
Lots of beautiful souls
Had a blast friendly vibes
Take comfortable shoes!
Food is expensive but worth it

My first time at Ink-​N-​Iron and it was alright. I was interested in checking it out before it changes venues next year, and I’m glad I did, but it’s not something I would do again.
PROS:
Great variety of tattoo artists from all over the world, with varied talents and specialties. Although getting tattooed at a festival is probably not in one’s best interest generally, it would be neat to find out who will have a booth in advance, and schedule a session with an artist from Japan, Sweden, Germany, or wherever, since it’s a very unique opportunity.
Clean and plentiful bathrooms both inside and outdoors. It was nice that they provided hand-​washing stations as well as dispensers of hand sanitizer.
CONS:
Extremely limited food options. All meat, nothing vegetarian except french fries and popcorn. Off-​site food is a long walk away, so driving distance for most people.
Absolutely despicable parenting. The festival is advertised as an «all ages» event, but NO. This is NOT a place for kids under age 12. Maybe bring them to take a look around at the tattoo artists and vendors, but nothing else. I saw more than a few parents leaving their kids behind while they partied and enjoyed the bands.
A toddler was sitting in trash eating handfuls of dirt, another child was drenched in spilled beer, one kid got trampled to tears by a fast-​moving drunk person, and countless babies were at the stages with absolutely no ear pugs or any type of protection.
Not to mention, these kids are immersed in a toxic environment of all kinds of second-​hand smoke, painfully loud music, and blazing heat for long periods of time. Parents, no wonder your children are screaming and crying! Grown adults need to attend to these conditions for their own health, let alone young children who don’t have control over their circumstances! The level of ignorance was horrifying and was very difficult to observe.

Happy to catch this festival before it changed its name and identity. The musical lineup was amazing with The Aggrolites (special Specials guest!), Fishbone, and Peter Murphy. The ‘cabaret’ performance in the salon was outstanding and love the venue – the Queen Mary! Ample spots for beer and mixed drinks stations, indoor restrooms (yay!), and plenty of fun booths. Oh and the vintage cars, I fell in love with many of these beauties. Best eye candy. Wait, and the body art – talent surely abounded. Terrific crowd too, outdoor events inspire friendliness :-) I really hope that the new ‘LA Arts Gathering’ becomes all that it promises to be. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Pros and cons :
Pros:
Saw lots of talented artists.
Saw Some good bands.
Food was typical for a festival (could of used more food/drink.vendors)
Queen Mary was cool. My kids enjoyed seeing it.
Cars & bikes.
Cool booths & shops.
Nice exhibts.
Cons:
Disorganized, no signs to where the entrance is.
Parking ppl are of no help.
Bought my tickets online, they were printable and didnt have the right barcode. Yay after going through security n getting inline had to get back out and go to will call. Yay. Wtf is the point of letting us print the tickets then. Then waiting back in line again. Yay…

The only reason to come here every year is to see magician Christopher Wonder at the Boiler Room Big Top show (an adult circus-​inspired /​variety show featuring burlesque, acrobats, sword swallowers and magic). This show is a must see!!! You’ll enjoy the magic of Chris Wonder and his stunning tattoos. ;)
Be sure to sign up for laweekly emails in case discounted tickets are offered in the future.
Parking at Pike’s Place (with free shuttle to Queen Mary) was around $ 15.

Always have a great time here! This year we got VIP tickets, not really much difference. you have an additional bathroom outside and a «lounge» area next to one of the outside bars. (Meh)
My favorite shows are:
Pleasure portal cabaret
Big top at the boiler room
Pole performers
Great vendors with a lot of cool stuff too!
This was our first yr staying on the ship which was super convenient AND cheaper than staying at any nearby hotels! I must say that it is hard to get a room cuz they do book up quick.
****Also you have to purchase your ticket online first before you can book a room for this event.
****and make sure to get there at a decent time bc even tho they have hotel parking for $ 17 you may still park further than others cuz it fills up quick
Down side is that:
check in isn’t until 4pm!!! They will hold your luggage
Someone pulled the fire alarm on our floor at 3 am
This year they had a micro brewery sponsor the event. And I had to go to the bars on the inside of the ship just to get a common beer!
The past 2yrs I’ve been to the event it was sponsored by sailor Jerry and this year, there was NO rum insight! Not even at their full bar.
Minor disappointments this year but I will continue to recommend this event to others!!!

Pretty cool. All kinds of music from 20s to Punk. But they put the pole dancers in a room with a low ceiling in most of the room, so you could not see the dancers part of the time, the «boiler room» show had a low stage, you could not see burlesque dancers crawl on the floor, yet rooms with bands had high stages and high ceilings. $ 40 a day or $ 80 for all three days. A bargin, but there is room for improvement.

Ink N Iron has been on my list for sometime. I’m a regular at car shows, but the idea of one with live bands and on site tattooing really intrigued my interest arrived at 5 P. M left at 1A. M
The car show section was a bit disappointing, I expected to see more it was about the size of a cruise night, but don’t get me wrong the rides that were present were amazing. The best of the best Chopped and clean.
I arrived late afternoon because I planned on staying late for the concert which was awesome, especially Fear.
Therefore, I suggest arriving around 1 or 2pm.
Let’s start with the price to attend:
1 person: $ 49 + service fee (purchased online)
Parking, well I parked at The Pike, where parking was validated and a shuttle provided by Ink n Iron «Free»
Beer, I forgot, (had too many beers to remember) I think one cup was $ 7.
Food: Hot dogs $ 8 pizza $ 8
Cooter’s Cones $ 6
And…The show was filled with great vendors!!! Spend spend spend
Bands, cars, tattoos, hot models priceless and yes my lady was one of the hot collection in the show ;)
Two people total spent $ 250 \m/​*_​*

5^th Year attending and Im beyond sad over how much this changed last year It went from original punk, blues, rockabilly, ska, psychobilly to indie sh***t like The Growlers.
Can’t even begin to tell you how upset I was thinking I was going to go see Bad Brains & Sublime… & NO bad Brains.
Sure the music is all nice and indie for the public
BUT what was bad ass about INI WAS that it was original
Families like us would come to see The Vandals, T.S.O.L, Misfits, Koffin Kats, Suicidal etc…
What was once an amazing Custom Culture Festival is now turning into a festival for attraction.
Not to mention how they hype up the artist line up and majority of the time the well known artist are not there.
NOW to go on with my Platinum VIP experience…
Paid over $ 300 for an empty VIP Lounge,
Lockers that barely fit my purse
(mind you I’m the type who comes to the festivals to spend on clothes, art, accessories, and tattoos)
So to me these were completely worthless since I shop alot…
What was suppose to be a wonderful advertised meal turned out to be this weird food truck with 3 options.
THIS REVIEW DOES NOT INCLUDE WORKERS, VENDORS, TATTOOERS, CAR OWNERS, & WORKERS & OWNERS
Owner of the event escorted and helped us for majority of the event… He was great he showed 100% concern…
If I attend this year it will be simply to shop the amazing vendors & view the art of tattooing & the custom cars.

Great festival had fun watching The Offspring and NOFX

1. They will cut a band off in the middle of the *announced* last song because the previous band engineered an encore break and ran over despite being third-​to-​last on the bill. This means for an advertised 1 hour set, the band played less than 45 minutes. Wow.
2. They’re overly aggressive at checking VIP wrist bands, to the point of harassment, IN THE VIP AREA – not just at the VIP entrance.

This festival just becomes shittier and more expensive each year. The flyer says no markers and when I got to security I figured my Prisma PENCILS and LEAD PENCILS would be fine. BUT NO, apparently security thinks people do not read or understand the rules and regulations. Yes, I have attended this festival for years and I am done. They did not even give me a chance to go back to the car she just said you cannot have this and tossed it into the trash. Seriously? You are a Bi*** in my book. The previous year I had security throw away my anti-​seizure medicine because it was a Narcotic… wow and once again was not even given the option to put my medicine in the car, and I had a three day pass so I had the ability to go in and out. The security guard advised that next time I just put some in my pocket. Um yea… how about no, because then you are carrying an un-​labeled narcotic/​controlled substance dumb ass. And my medicine is medically necessary… yea… and they cancelled the pin-​up contest this year. There was no movie, the bands were okay but the sound was horrible. And some of the artist who had booths were questionable. The one that tattooed my mom in law messed her simple scripted up… horrible. her O looks like a D…

I went as a guest of a vendor but the general admission price per person for 1 day is like $ 100, and its $ 20 to park. So unless you haven’t seen the Queen Mary before, or there is a band playing that you really want to see I don’t see how this event lives up to the price… but that’s just me. There is a great selection of tattoo artists here… so if you don’t know what you want then walking around will give you some ideas of what tattoo to get.

My honey got us tix to go to INI last night so we could see SUBLIME. They put on a great show. Played all their hits, and some of their misses. Over all, the show was a success!
Now on to the INK n IRON. There were some very talented tattoo artists from around the world selling their wares, and doing tats for people both the traditional way, and the old school free hand way with a hand needle. YOWZA! I love tattoos, though I don’t have any myself. The convention was inside the Queen Mary and on the surrounding marina. The cars on display were some of the best I’ve ever seen. Gorgeous colors and years of custom work made the car show pretty serious eye candy. This convention has a very sweet mix of old school «pinup style» ladies, «greaser» dudes, OG’s, low riders, cholas, & steampunks. There were also lots of burlesque sluts and trailer trash, complete with every kind of colored mowhawk and victory roll you can think of. Good times.
Just an FYI. You WILL be searched and patted down. My honey rolls his own cigarettes and they almost took them because they thought they were weed. No wallet chains. No studded belts. No outside food (including water). The drinks they make are WEAK, so stick to beer to get your moneys worth, or better yet, get your swig on BEFORE you get there. They ran out of parking this year and had a free shuttle service from the Pike, but we said damn all that, and parked at the MAYA hotel which is right next door for the same price. Over all, lots of fun.

The parking lot is not meant to hold so many people. Don’t bother. Park in one of the lots/​structures (convention center, the pike, aquarium.) there are some shuttles, but most people took the C bus, that takes you to the Queen Mary. The best time to go is around 4 or 5. That’s when you don’t have to deal with a crowd either at the bus stops or even entering the event. If there is a must see band playing early… well good luck. If you don’t have anything better to do then go there hours before gates open.
The festival is a major pain to get into.
$ 40 bucks sounds like a lot, but considering being able to explore the Queen Mary, see amazing cars, and listen to live bands… I say the pricing is okay.
I wouldn’t want to get a tattoo there though. I would hate being crammed in the Queen Mary like that. everyone’s booth space is so small. I’m okay. I think I would have an anxiety attack with the crowd, limited space, «eeh» ventilation and a/​c and knowing that I’m on a ship. I semi freaked out thinking how crappy it would be to be stuck in an elevator on a ship.

We will not be attending the ink and iron festival again. we paid for one day, and had a room at the queen Mary for one night. Ink and Iron made us pay 70 bucks extra just so we could go get our baggage since there is no «reentry». Really? I just paid 180 bucks for a room and you are charging me to go get my baggage? we were not staying the two days and in the end had to pay the 70 bucks just to handle all the drama. then we were rudely told by the ink and iron folks at the back entry «there is not way you booked a room for only one night»… well dude, here is my confirmation read it, it says «one night»…what an asshole! Queen Mary eventually reimbursed us 50 Buck’s (after 5 days of fighting) long story short, we will not be visiting ink and iron again, nor the Queen Mary. last year sucked, this year sucked. not to mention the food and drink vendors are a rip off. there really was not much to see or do after you have walked around for a while.
TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND COMMUNICATION — RIP OFF.
INK AND IRON — I HOPE YOU CAN GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER ONE OF THESE YEARS!

I– t was my first experience at any kind of tattoo festival and it was
N– ot a let down! It was so much fun.
K– nowing that Mike Rubendall & other famous tattooers were there was
N– eat. I enjoyed seeing artists from France and Amsterdam.
I– also really enjoyed the car show portion. It’s
R– eally cool to see how beautiful the restorations were.
O– HHHH and the pole dance aerialists were awesome!
N– ot cool that a one day pass is $ 50 but the 3 day pass is $ 100.

This is the third time I’ve been to the festival. I mainly go for the music, burlesque shows, and some of the artists that sell prints of their artwork. It gets 4 stars for the awesome bands I saw this year, and the fun I had. Loses one star for the madness it takes to get in, and leave the festival.
Some advice if you plan to go next year: No stud belts. No chains of any kind. No outside food or drinks, this includes water. And you Will get searched. As we waited to go thru security, we watched them go through every nook and cranny of girl’s purses, toss belts if you didn’t want to go back to your car, toss snacks and waters, and pat everyone down to make sure you weren’t hiding anything else. And not a pat-​pat, it was a bra-​line, hands down the back, check pockets on the butt kind of thing. They even sent a girl back because her purse had a handcuff strap. So be prepared for all that. And there is no in and out privileges.
Once inside, Music, Cars, Vendors, etc. unless you want to see specific bands playing on different nights, you can pretty much get done in one day. I’ve gone through all 3 floors of the tattoo artists, seen all the cars, vendors, some of the side shows, and even wandered the boat, and still had time to spare. It’s usually in between band sets that my friends and I wish we had a room on The Queen Mary that we could refresh and take a nap in before the next show starts.
For the burlesque shows, if you definitely want a seat, you have to show up early. At least an hour ahead, depending on where it’s at. We did that last year, but still had to watch for seats and pounce on them like sharks. The room it was in had only about 5 – 6 tables with 4 seats a piece, with about 100 people in the room Fail
When it comes time to leave, if you’ve parked at a structure (aquarium) where you get shuttled in, let me tell you, you Can walk it back. It took us about 15 – 20 min. The same amount of time to watch two separate shuttle buses get rushed by the crowds heading back. Also, they stop running at a certain time, so if that happens, don’t fret. Just stick along the water, it’ll take you to a bike path that leads across the bridge and brings you right where you want to be. It was a rather nice walk too. And there was plenty of other festival goers out there as well. So unless your wearing heels that go all the way up to your neck, with no backup shoes, or maybe have a child in tow, take a nice little walk down by the water.
Aside from the fiasco it is trying to get in, and leave, my friends and I had a great time. Saw some great bands, beautiful cars, awesome art, and enjoyed some people watching as well. We actually look forward to next year.
One more tip: Bring Money!

Just promise me if your going to visit — don’t kitsch it out… Pllleaaasee.
I’ve only gone twice — once about 4 years ago and then this year’s (both fell on my birthday weekend so it was in the cards!) I love this festival and it’s where I finally met Horitaka — one of Horiyoshi III’s old students, who signed my tattoo books he wrote. Been going to his shop in San Jo for years and finally ran into him at this show.
Horiyoshi III is my all-​time favorite tattoo artist, though I probably won’t have the pleasure of getting tattooed by him.
Anyway — it’s awesome and the show has grown leaps since a few years back. They do hair on site and the car show blew up. Some great chopped up rides man — and the flake on some of the rides was so deep the clear still ran bumpy.
If you can — stay on the boat — if not, a day is enough — I get so excited when I think about Ink-​n-​Iron. I promise you when you walk onto the Queen and the whole boat is buzzing — you’ll want to punch whoever you’re with cause you’re so happy!
FYI: All tattoos hurt and if you can’t decide — get them all!
Man, just writing about this place gets me excited!