The weekend of the Forged in Ink Tattoo Extravaganza, Pudge and Duval were supposed to go to the show, hit Al’s (the local strip club), and have a great boys weekend. Things didn’t exactly go according to plan. Instead, Pudge got in an accident, which screwed up his car and left us carpooling for the seven weeks following that, and put him in a shitty mood all weekend. But, towards the end of the day, he piped up enough to be able to make it to the show.

So, on the rainy Saturday afternoon of April 2nd, the guys traveled to Wyomissing (right outside of Reading, PA). This was the first tattoo convention that we had ever attended when we went last year, and after going through a full year, in my opinion, it is still the best show in the area.

Walking around getting pictures of all the great people that were present, willing to stop and take the time to share their artwork for a picture, Pudge was in a comfortable element. Duval, however, was not. Duval has a slight phobia, if you will, of big guys with tattoos. So, he wasn’t that comfortable talking to most of the attendees, let along asking to take pictures of them!

Towards the end of the day, the competitions started. The guys made it up to the stage, and ended up being “trapped” for the whole competition where they took most of the pictures that you see here while contestants were coming off of the stage.

Like I said, I think this is one of the best shows in the area, and if you are in to the tattoo community, you have probably already been to it. If you are new to tattooing, check this show out and it will give you a new appreciation for the sacrifice and dedication that the tattoo artists and owners have gone through. Next year’s show dates will be available on their website at www.forgedinink.com towards the end of the year.