Date: Friday July 17th
Event: Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival 2026
Venue: Ohio St. Reformatory
Town / State: Mansfield, OHIO
Featuring: Papa Roach, Cypress Hill, Hollywood Undead…

Ink 2026 is officially upon us and of course I had to be there bright and early as our Hometown boys IF NOT FOR ME were to take the stage at 11:25AM on the big main stage. That’s right our boys were opening the Yard stage for the whole weekend. I walked up to the front just as my phone struck 11:25AM. Then 11:30 rolled around and I began to wonder. These things aren’t typically shows to be starting late. I checked my phone and they had delayed the show due to the air quality. The thought was that it was to be getting better as the day went on and the singers breathing in all that yucky air might be appreciative of the best conditions possible. Eventually 1:00 rolled around and the crowd went off as our boys took the stage breaking right into “Retrograde” and getting the action and pits started off right. They absolutely belonged on that stage and earned it. The energy, the songs, the chorus’s they have are infectious and I can see them moving up the ranks of these stages year after year. They ran through a set featuring “Broken Throne”, the crowd pleasing “Say it To My Face” and “Blameless”. Vocalist Patrick Glover is extremely good with the crowd with his encouraging of pits and madness, while being thankful and grateful for the opportunity as well. If Not For Me are not a band anyone wants to follow at a festival or any other time. Kudos to our boys and I can’t wait to see what’s next for them.

Vocalist Joe Cotela of Ded performing on The Yard Stage at Ink 2026.

‍ ‍The next few hours consisted of partial sets mostly on the Yard and Redemption stages as unfortunately the Infirmary was having some major sound issues all weekend, but I think Friday was likely the worst. ENTHEOS, despite the sound issues put on a spectacular performance and I personally missed them but Heard SNUFFED ON SITE was awesome. One of the more fun and sleeper performances of the day came from REV. THEORY. The band is the one behind the song “Voices” which is a theme song to WWE’s Randy Orton. They formed in 2002 under the name Revolution Theory. From “Light it up” to the closing “Hell Yeah” Rev Theory was a fun hard rock half hour. I focused mostly on the two main stages for the next hour or so and one of the more obscure acts of the day came up on Redemption stage. TECH N9NE took the stage around 4:50 which was a bit earlier than originally planned but things got switched up with the delay. Either way Tech absolutely packed that stage. “Riotmaker”, “Am I a Psycho”, “Demons” and 15+ others were featured on the set. The hip hop star was a pleasant surprise in the middle of the day. Following Tech over on the Yard Stage was a band that headlined Gettysburg Bike Week 8 days earlier. MEMPHIS MAY FIRE took the stage with their biggest hit “Misery” and had the crowd right where they wanted them within seconds. The metal band led by Matty Mullins played a 45-minute set that didn’t let up once. Armed with smoke and pyro and riffs the band encouraged pits and crowd surfing throughout the set. Ending on the aptly titled “Chaotic” the band was a early candidate for performance of the day.

Jinjer absolutely crushing the Redemption stage at Inkcarceration 2026.

They played a set full of hits like “Hear Me Now”, “Bullet” and closing out with “Everywhere I Go”. They are always one of the more fun bands to see. It was then time for the lady of the day to come out. That’s right it was Mary Jane’s time to shine as CYPRESS HILL took the stage just before dark. The rap duo has been owning stages for nearly 40 years now and for this occasion they opened up with “How I could just Kill a Man” and the smoke clouds filled the crowd as nobody was standing still, whether bobbing their heads or jumping. B-Real and Sen Dog complement each other so well. “Dr. Greenthumb” and “When the Shit Goes Down” were also staples of the set. One of the more surprising portions was their cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Bombtrack” which they nailed. B-Reals quote “Sometimes dangerous times require Dangerous songs” prior to playing it was also spot on. They would close out the set with the fan favorite “Insane in the Brain”. Next up was PAPA ROACH over on the Redemption stage and they would serve as our headliner for the day as we were spent and had seen Disturbed before. The roach opened up with newer track “Even if it Kills Me” which saw singer Jacoby Shaddix bopping his head and just not staying still for half a second. They followed up with a couple older tracks “Dead Cell” and “Blood Brothers”. Taking it all back to 2000. Jacoby was a ball of energy and would make his way out to the crowd and mingle with the audience. The band would go on to play hits like “Scars”, “Getting Away with Murder” and closing out with the song that shot them into superstardom “Last Resort”. We had to head back about 30 minutes into their set but damn they were intense. Day 1 of Ink now complete.

TOP 5 OF FRIDAY (DAY 1)
01. Papa Roach
02. If Not For Me
03. Hollywood Undead
04. Cypress Hill
05. Dying Wish

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Jinjer
Ded

Guitairst Hayden of If Not for Me Kicking off Ink 2026 on the Yard Stage

Next up I would split my time between the Redemption stage where NEVERTEL was playing and then over to the Infirmary to check out a band I’d been hearing a lot of buzz on called VICAR BLOOD. Being it was closest I checked out a bit of Nevertel first. They are a very not poppy but not metal type of metal if that makes sense. They have some fantastic songs that I guarantee you’ll be singing after their set. They opened up with “Break the Silence” which conveniently is probably my favorite song by them. I was super happy to hear that live. They bring a great energy to the stage with a very happy vibe. I watched about three songs and then headed to Infirmary for a very different atmosphere. This stage saw the more Screaming metal and up and coming bands over the weekend. Catching the beginning of Vicar Bloods set, they had a stage set up that you couldn’t miss and matching attire with some face paint and I’ll tell you when you realize the vocalist is actually a female it makes it that much more impressive. Vieda Boss is the name she goes by and she makes her voice do some incredible things. They are labeled as brutal down tuned death metal and they are just that. Hailing just up the road in Cleveland They had the hometown pits going early. I’m going to give them a highly recommend. Back to the Yard for another band that I was super excited for DED. Ten years into their career and they are just getting stronger. The nu metal band out of Arizona made a splash with their track “Anti Everything” back in 2017 and hasn’t slowed down since. They seemed to be the Snot of this year as in my opinion they seemed extra loud. I know if its to loud your to old, which is very possibly true with me. They had the whole crowd singing “Fuck me and Fuck You too” which was a fun time. They also have a stage presence with the contacts they wear. The band opened the set with “Hate Me” and didn’t stop from there. They closed out the set with the afore mentioned “Anti Everything” to a thundering applause from the crowd.

Dying Wish performing on The Yard stage at Ink 2026

This was the portion of the day I was really looking forward to as every band from here on was a band I wanted to see. I headed to Redemption and got a relatively good slot for the band JINJER. The first time I saw them was at Sonic and they played one song and then had technical issues so that was that for me. This time was much better, and I really felt like I was getting to see them. They are insane live. Lead vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk is a powerhouse. The way she stalks the stage and just busts out growls and screams along w/ her voice who is also incredible. The band takes you on a metal journey with ebbs and flows. One minute it’s a mile a minute the next they dip you into a lull only to bring you back up again. Absolutely a top 5 for the day. Next up was the always entertaining STARSET. They put on a spectacular live show with lights and pyro that really shines at night. With the delay and the smoke from the wildfires the sky was rather overcast which complimented the bands performance. Opening up with “Brave New World” and playing the bands, usual festival set list including the monster hit “My Demons”. Recently the bands released a new Single “Silos” and we were treated to the live debut of the track. Closing out with a encore of “TikTok” the band really brought the rock to the day. Following Starset was one of the best live bands on the scene. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD took the stage to the familiar sounds of “Undead”. The rap/rock act is always a bright spot on any bill. They will change up instruments, and all use their voices. Following that was the brand-new track “1×1” and then the band would bring up a young lady to the stage for their customary portion of the show where they corrupt the youth. When she was asked her favorite member of the band she replied “I don’t really know any” which got a huge laugh. Then they had her introduce the next track as “Comin in Hot Motherfucker”.