It’s a Thursday night on Newtown’s King Street, but Alana Cappetta says the “vibe is Friday”.

“There’s always something on here, always something to eat, always friends to bump into,” she says, sipping a sweaty vodka seltzer can as neon red lighting from the tattoo parlour behind her casts a glow.

Alana Cappetta and Gracie Philips-Anderson at Industrial Strength Tattoo on King Street. Credit: James Brickwood

Her friend, Gracie Philips-Anderson, agrees. “It’s easy … you can go to a little bar, have a little dance, or there’s a random pop-up like tonight at our friends’ tattoo studio. It’s all connected,” she says.

As the party spills out onto the sidewalk, inside the parlour people are getting pre-sketched walk-in tattoos or bouncing to techno music blasting from the DJ’s decks, fog

See Full Page