(Editor’s note: In a bid to get more U.S. festival coverage on the site, we’ve got Sean Matthews out and about taking photos and documenting his experience at various shows. This go around, he spent the past weekend at this year’s Inkcarceration. This is day one, complete with photo galleries.)
In rural Ohio, Mansfield is a small town known by most as the set for 1994’s blockbuster hit The Shawshank Redemption.
Nestled on a side road off the highway is the Ohio State Reformatory, a retired prison that offers tours most days — except for three very loud, hot, and badass days in mid-July. That’s when Danny Wimmer Presents, known for curating some of the largest festivals on American soil, turns the prison grounds into an all weekend banger called Inkcarceration!
The three-day festival based around tattoos and heavy metal/rock sees roughly 25,000 people converge daily on the grounds surrounding the prison for camping, tattoos and total debauchery.
Access to the grounds started at 10 a.m. with parking filling up and the pre-parties growing before the 11 a.m. door call. Walking in sounds of Crossbreed rang through the air as they opened the day on the smaller Infirmary stage. They were followed by Devour The Day opening the secondary Redemption stage, while Afterlife got the main yard stage going just before 1 p.m.
With all three stages running, the tattooing in full effect and all shops open, there was something to keep you busy no matter what you were looking to do.
Holy War took the stage and lead singer Kat Leon wasted no time working the crowd into a frenzy. Running around and flipping all over the stage throughout the band’s set, Leon was one of the most energetic vocalists I’ve ever seen.
Later on, Bad Wolves played in the mid day sun with the crowd slowly packing in and filling up the grounds. Their 40-minute set was a barrage of greatest hits.
Hometown-ish favorites Mushroomhead was the most interactive band of the day, with lead singers Scott Beck and Steve Rauckhorst jumping into the crowd during various songs and crowd surfing while singing.
Another Cleveland-based group, Chimaira, was long awaited in the crowd. Returning to the festival stage for the first time in 14 years, the band started with “Pure Hatred” and didn’t stop until their allotted time ran out. Seriously, there wasn’t a dead moment in their set, as they ran through 10 songs that included hits like “The Flame” and “Dead Inside” before eventually ending with “Resurrection”. A long time in the making and performed with perfection under a clear sky, Chimaira’s set was the sort of comeback that fans have been dreaming about for a long time.
The nostalgia trip didn’t end there, though. The newly revitalized Biohazard was another reunion show on the bill and fans at Inkcarceration got to experience (almost) the original lineup. Unfortunately, guitarist Billy Graziadei was unable to attend, so drummer Danny Schuler’s son filled in on those duties.
Into the early evening, Chevelle took to the main stage with an 11-song set that had the entire crowd singing at the top of their lungs. Meanwhile, Poison The Well wreaked havoc on the smaller secondary stage, with crowd surfers bouncing atop the crowd as far as the eye could see.
With a setlist that felt more like a mixtape of the band’s biggest hits spanning six albums and some covers sprinkled in, The Offspring‘s set was easily the highlight of the day. Both Dexter and Noodles took turns engaging with the crowd by cracking jokes and having a fun time. From the first rim click of “Come Out & Play” to set ender “Self Esteem”, there wasn’t a single person not dancing and singing along.
Closing out the second stage was the ever-heavy Machine Head. The crowd, primed from the day behind them let it all out during the hour-long set. Multiple mosh pits, and ton of crowd surfers gave security a last minute run for their money.
As the sun finally set behind the stage, headliner Breaking Benjamin walked out with hit single “Failure”. Center stage was lead singer Benjamin Burnley’s son.
After the first three songs, he addressed the issue saying he was on daddy duty and while on stage, his son would be left alone. And since his son knows every song and likes to be onstage, they’d give him a guitar and mic him up along side dad!
Breaking Benjamin played for an hour and a half and treated fans to 19 songs that spanned their vast career. “Red Cold River”, “Angel’s Fall” and “Dear Agony” were just a few leading us to hit smash “The Diary of Jane” to end the night, and capping off a perfect day in prison.
Bad Wolves
Biohazard
Breaking Benjamin
Chevelle
Chimaira
Holy War
Machine Head
Mushroomhead
Offspring
Poison The Well
