The Launch: A Win!
As anticipated, so it was. In fact, even more so! The atmosphere was purely electric for 102.9 WMGK's Housebound Competition, last night. The Launch secured a victory in the semifinals to advance to the final round but it wasn't easy. It was a downright nerve racking, tension filled event for the band because the competition was so fierce. Four bands were pitted against one another and there were no "gimmies." Each of the four bands brought their own quality and style to the contest. According to MGK's rules, the bands each draw a performance position for the night, out of a hat. The Launch drew the last position. The first band was Sanctuary with driving rhythm and blow away lead vocals. The second band was Mistify II, who played a large selection of well crafted song medley's. They had a huge and vociferous following of devoted fans. At one point during their performance a two person crew got out of their seats and began parading around Dave and Busters with a giant banner. The third band was Aftershock. They were aptly named because the band's lead vocalist Nicole was absolutely shocking with her blow away voice and kick-behind stage presence. They also had a large following of fans that even offered up small percussion pieces to the crowd to play along to the band's performance. The crowd needed no prompting to enthusiastically join in.
Remember or make note of Sanctuary, Mistify II, and Aftershock and if you are afforded the opportunity to catch any of their performances, you will not be disappointed. The Launch was up next with three hard acts to follow, in the evening's last position.
WMGK's Debbi Calton, a staple of the Philadelphia music scene hosted the event, overseeing the evening's three distinguished judges also from the Philadelphia music industry. Part of the rules are for each of the four bands to perform the exact same, surprise last minute, cover song to give the judges somewhat of a center point for judging each band. The selected song for the competition was Tom Petty's Running Down A Dream. WMGK knocked it out of the park again! It was a fun filled evening of excitement and intrigue. The stage/sound crew, Debbi, and judges put on a first class show at a first rate, exciting venue that is Dave and Buster's.
