I bought several thousand dollars of great ink by a great female artist; All of my tattoos done by Ms Kandi are detailed, perfectly executed, and artistic; But now I'll tell you why I will never go back. This old-school tattoo shop could use an atmosphere, better furniture to lay upon(the old chair and bench is like an ancient torture devise); the tattoo feels like tattoos feel; but I was always in pain from the old beat-up furniture the artists have to use to contort the body to tattoo certain areas of the body-there's no way to feel comfortable while being tattooed; they need better chairs;
WHAT BOTHERED ME ENOUGH TO NEVER GO BACK was the way the male staff treated the one female worker.In the daytime, Kandi runs a friendly room; she is there 5 days a week;She plays music that is calming, and serves as a baffle that blocks out conversational noise;One forgets about the pain. She is knowledgeable about Fantasy-themed tattoos which require an above average education on the subjects of art, pop culture, and the newest machines that a person can use.She's a perfectionist; BUT the day I stopped going was because I was still being tattooed during a shift change; The night crew were a different breed; they turned off the music and started sounding like a gay-bar-just "dudes" talking VERY LOUDLY about fights, jack-assery-in general... there were sound effects added by the hyper active Allen with gnarly tattooed side-burn looking things;(I think they are meant to be fish tattooed on his face...but I can't tell...)He's very young;Kandi has been tattooing for 17 years; most of the others?-LESS !-HOWEVER there is a big problem that a guy named Dave considers himself to be the "night-manager"; HIS MISOGYNISTIC TONE towards Kani infuriated me; He verbally abused the lady in a smug arrogant way that raised my Ire.He allowed the young inexperienced guy to YELL about a lot of mumbo-jumbo street talk , while he bitched at my artist for taking extra time to meet a special request that I had made. HE TREATED THE LADY LIKE A DOG...AND FOR DISRESPECTING WOMEN, i WILL NOT SUPPORT THIS STUPID GOOD OL' BOY'S CLUB OF DERANGED GANG-LIFE CHAOS; i EVEN WAS INSULTED BY THE STAFF, and I spent over $500 a week there for a while ! They should fire the "do-nothing manager"-who had to call the boss to ask Kandi a question about moving around,of all things(why didn't he ask her himself?)-tattoo equipment.If he had any management skills he would have told young Allen to lower his voice-they could cut some of the needless garble with some music, and manage in a softer tone in a different room; I don't want to be in the DRAMA of a TATTOO SHOP NIGHTMARE !! THESE PEOPLE FIGHT !! If you want a great tattoo, go during the week in the daytime; If you want an unclean-looking guy with fish tattooed on his face yelling about "really cool bikes and cameras", and an absent-minded non-manager-type "A" control-freak named Dave, go at night-its a nightmare. I will deeply miss the outstanding tattooing of Kandi; but I CAN'T WATCH A WOMAN(MY ARTIST) GET VERBALLY ABUSED BY A GUY WHO LOOKS LIKE HE'S HIDING A HARELIP BENEATH HIS TALKING MUSTACHE ! HE'S A WALRUS. read more