George Galindo’s dreams and goals just keep getting bigger and bigger and El Paso is reaping the benefits of it. When you put one hundred percent of your heart and soul, not to mention, every effort of every waking moment, you are bound to achieve those goals and be successful enough to only dream bigger. Galindo’s hard work, determination and respect for the tattoo industry has allowed himself to be able to bring to El Paso, his own creation, The Texas Showdown Tattoo & Music Festival. Already in its third year, the Showdown brings together a 3-day festival type outing for the whole family to enjoy catering to all forms of artistry with a focus on tattooing and music.
The showdown has grown in leaps and bounds and its success can be attributed to the diversity of its offerings. “This festival has morphed into a Godzilla of a show,” Galindo smiles when asked what is different about this year’s Showdown compared to its 2 previous outings. “Everything and I mean everything from the vendors, artists, music, activities and all in between has been taken up a notch to another level. If you were there the first year or last year you will see that we have just grown bigger and better. We had around 90 booths last year, this year we have 113. We advertise 200 tattoo artists but we actually have close to 300 and they are from all over the world, Germany, Japan, Holland, Hawaii, Canada, and all over the US. But just not that we have some of the artists from all the tattoo television shows represented here. We have artists from LA INK, NY INK, BEST INK, and INK MASTER. The number of outstanding and creative talent coming to El Paso for this event is just amazing.”
The coliseum will be buzzing with the sound of tattoo machines but outside there will be a million dollar stage set up for the musical performances. As with everything he does, George went all out to bring in a great variety of music both nationally and locally. All day music performances by numerous local bands leading up to the headlining acts, of which El Paso will get to see MUSHROOMHEAD, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS, DAYS OF A NEW, and the reunion of STATIC-X. Friday the 13 will be the metal music performances but the weekends offer a variety of different musical genres from punk, to rockabilly, to rock. The stage wont be the only thing outside as George explains, “we wanted to make the outside more of a carnival like atmosphere. So we have a lot going on outside. We will have the traveling Sailor Jerry art museum bus. We have tripled the number of food and drink vendors. We have the ring for the Pint Size brawlers midget wrestling. We are bringing in the cast of the Animal Planet show, PITBULLS and PAROLEES. We have face painting and tattoo painting for the kids. There is just so much that will be going on. I wanted to make sure that this would be something that you could bring your whole family to.”
Due to the success of the previous year’s Showdowns, on Monday July 9 and 10, The City and County of El Paso will honor the event by proclaiming that week to be The Texas Tattoo Showdown Tattoo and Music Festival Week. The proclaimation and naming of a week is an honor and distinction rarely given out by the city. George invites everyone especially the tattoo community to come out to the proclamation ceremony that Monday to celebrate the award with him because he feels it shows the city’s acceptance of the tattooed community. Whether you are tattooed or not The Texas Showdown is one event this city has that is surely not to be missed.
The Texas Showdown Tattoo & Music Festival will be held at the El Paso County Coliseum on Friday July 13, 14, and 15. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster and at the door on the days of the event. Prices are $20 for a daily pass to $35 for a weekend pass and children under 12 are free.
TXT: A. Lawless