My Tattoo Inc - October 2022

from My Tattoo Inc - October 2022

My Tattoo Inc - October 2022

BIG LONDON TATTOO SHOW

When it was announced that the International London Tattoo Convention would not be happening again, an inevitable gap appeared. It’s important to remember that Alexandra Palace’s Tattoo Freeze is still present in the convention calendar, but it was felt that a central convention was still needed to feed the public’s hunger for all things tattoo. Following in the footsteps of ‘London’ was never going to be easy and there were inevitably going to be comparisons. But, having spent the weekend at the first Big London Tattoo Show, I can honestly report that the organisers, Total Tattoo magazine and Rocket Events, have truly pulled this out of the bag.

TATTOO SHOW

The Big London Tattoo Show was held at the ExCel centre, in the London Docklands area. Although modern, practical and somewhat plain in comparison to its predecessor, ExCel turned out to be an ideal choice. In addition to an airport nearby and other transport links a short walk away, the area featured hotels within stumbling distance and catering facilities within the foyer area. The venue was clean and large enough to give space to both artists and public visiting the show without too much crowding. The venue wasn’t completely devoid of character either, there were little nods to the city throughout with a seating and catering area which was complete with a red double decker bus that also acted as a main bar. Either side of the main stage hung large ‘total tattoo’ and ‘Big London Tattoo Show’ banners, which framed the area well.

Their combination of interviewing, commentary and humour worked well with the crowd – think Gogglebox, but with tattoos. This complemented the competition system where esteemed judges awarded tokens to contestants, with the winner being declared the person with the highest number of tokens. This method avoided the drag of waiting for marks to be tallied backstage and seeing all the tattoos for each category lined up onstage was a fantastic opportunity to see some completed work from across the weekend and celebrate the vast styles and originality that tattooists are experimenting with. The judges worked well together in their approach and expertise also, with notable figures such as Nikole Lowe, Grace Neutral and Neil Bass, amongst others, headlining the decisions.

The Big London Tattoo Show had big boots to fill; not only have they worn them in, they’ve firmly stomped their footsteps into the convention scene. Roll on 2023, I’ll certainly be first in the queue.

My Tattoo Inc - October 2022

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