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Southern Ink Xposure 2010
Review By Linda Evermore
Southern Ink Xposure 2010
Review by Linda Evermore
Otherwise known as SIX 2010, this sensational international tattoo convention was held for the 2nd year running at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Fri 22-Sun 24 Jan. The two live music events in conjunction with it took place at separate venues, namely Mercury Live on Fri night & The Assembly on Sat night.
The weekend at the Convention Centre literally “buzzed”, featuring numerous top international & local tattoo artists. For those with a preference to steel, body piercers were also abound. All weekend the venues teemed with hundreds of beautifully inked & pierced bodies. Tattoos were visible in many various places from the head to the feet, some had full sleeves, and others had full body tattoos…not to mention those bearing their own old faded blue ink home jobs.
DJ’s provided a very varied selection of sound, inclusive of videos projected onto a wall. Music ranged from the sort that, if not for the surrounding activity, could probably have induced a trance, to the generally much preferred alternative & rock. Interspersed throughout the venue, were merchandise stalls selling items of clothing, belts, lighters, books, jewellery & all sorts of other paraphernalia. Harley-Davidson motorcycles were on show, S.A. Hot Rods were there & also a very interesting man by the name of Brian “Woody” Wood who is an avid collector of anything at all to do with tattoos. He has very rare magazines, cards, collages of events he’s been to, t-shirts & a host of other articles. By the end of Sunday he had made up an A1 size collage of cards, stickers etc that he’d collected over the w/e & had also made a concerted effort to get every single stall holders’ signature on it!
Next to the tickets sales counter before entering the SIX, was the theme display of hearts, made by different artists with very vivid imaginations. The one that ‘stole my heart’ was a red heart with a key in its lock, encased in a very cute & immaculate miniature coffin. Second to that, in my opinion, was the “heartthrob’ - a heart made to look like a real cool custom hotrod, with the registration reading “Throb”.
Mercury Live & The Assembly were both packed with people each respective night. The line-up of bands was very diverse, covering a broad range of music genres, but thankfully, predominantly rock-the way it should be! Many of us who were at the convention only got to the music venues late, missing one or two of the first bands that played.
Lady Luck party:
Friday night’s bands at Mercury Live were The Great Apes, Jack Parow, The Ragdolls & Throatball.
I got there in time for The Ragdolls, a popular raucous rock band, fronted by a female, who not only sings, but plays a mean guitar too. In fact, her & the bass guitarist proved to be quite versatile, swopping guitars for a bit. They received a huge call for an encore, which was duly delivered. There was even a male stripper on stage, who agreed to get up there & remove his clothing on exchange for a song…he was all up for it until it came to the removal of his undershorts & then, becoming shy, he used the stage curtain to replace them when they came off!
Throatball kicked ass with excellent Punk/Thrash Metal, getting the moshpit going in a wild way. Frontman Ian’s antics on stage were rather entertaining, from performing on his back, a fight with the carpet, which ended up due south on the dance floor, to him brandishing a horse on a stick for the song “Fuck you & the horse you rode in on”. They also had a whole box of CD’s, their latest self titled album, to give away, bird seed & all. If you missed out on that, the album is also fully downloadable from their website www.throatball.com – for free!
General crowd opinion of the two bands I missed went as such:
The Great Apes, the first band to play, were reported to be an incredible heavy rock act, with a lot of rhythm & excellent guitar riffs. In fact, some people thought they were THE best band of the night! Definitely on my list of “bands to see”.
Jack Parow were the 2nd band to play, & although I was rather keen on seeing them, after hearing from numerous people what they were about, I felt somewhat grateful that I’d been spared…it seems that the “Parow” part of the name refers to a place in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town…didn’t realise that’s where vulgar hip-hop came from in the Cape, but apparently Jack Parow sets a fine example. No doubt there must have been those who enjoyed them, or they wouldn’t have been there! Not only Rockers flaunt tattoos after all…
Man’s Ruin Party:
Saturday night at The Assembly featured a superb line-up of Them Tornados, Damn Right!, The Mochines & The Rudimentals.
Although I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Them Tornados on numerous other occasions, I unfortunately missed them that night. They’re a tight three piece Rockabilly band – guitar & vocals, an upright bass & unique stand-up drum arrangement. They can set up & play anywhere, in some of the most confined spaces & their music always gets even ‘first timers’ dancing.
I arrived during Hot Rockers, Damn Right’s set, which was being filmed. I do hope these guys make it big someday, as the talent is certainly there. Everyone seemed to be totally captivated by them.
The Mochines followed, with more down & dirty rock, heating the dance floor to a tightly packed frenzy… other bands’ members & general audience alike showing their frenetic appreciation.
The Rudimentals, were the final band to play & make a big difference to the music of the night. Adding a new dimension to Ska, known as Afri Ska, this seven piece band had no trouble getting people skanking to their big sounds. Complete with trombone, saxophone, trumpet, guitars, keyboard & a vocalist full of stage presence, they proved to be very popular, filling the dance floor to capacity & beyond!
SIX was a convention well worth an entire w/e! One of those events that are so good that they don’t really need to end just then…do they?…Well done to the team of organisers!!…when is the next one??
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