Hong Kong band Loud Shaft win trip to Canada as part of Planetrox competition

The Planetrox China Final 2018 was held at The Hub on 12th May 2018, with the long process of competing and voting coming to an end in an energy-filled, explosive finale.

This year’s line-up started with Macau-based Scamper, blasting out their alternative rock music and kick-starting the competition impressively. Their set was followed by VIRT, who had the only keyboardist to make it to the final, with their theatrical, tempo-shifting, prog-rock. Third up was the catchy pop-rock band SAGAS whose fans came out in force, singing along to their songs at the top of their lungs. Fourth up was Two Finger Salute, wowing us with their street punk performance. The last finalist band was Loud Shaft, who lived up to their name with a bombastic show which had everyone in The Hub jumping and head-banging!

A unanimous decision was made by the judging panel and the audience that the newly-crowned champion of this year’s Planetrox China was Loud Shaft. The grand prize of the trip to Canada was presented to them, with the band overflowing with emotion, exclaiming, “I cannot believe this!”

The complicated job to pick a winner out of five excellent bands rested on the shoulders of a panel of judges, which included Vincent Choi (guitarist of Qiu Hong), Lauren James (South China Morning Post) and Simon Gaudry (director of Envol et Macadam festival). A list of criteria such as interaction with the audience and originality were reviewed before they came up with the final decisions. The audience votes counted towards 25% of the vote.

Chris B, organiser of Planetrox China/Underground HK, said of the competition, “The bands this year were of such high standard, that it must have been a challenge for the judges AND the audience to pick a winner. Every band that makes it to the finals of Planetrox China is considered a winner by us. We were very excited about the five bands who had made it to the finals, and a big congratulations to Loud Shaft!”

This year’s winners, Loud Shaft, are overjoyed to be going to Canada to perform at the Envol et Macadam festival in September. The band revealed, “We couldn’t believe we even made it to the finals at first! Now we have won, it still feels like a dream. We are really excited and thankful to all the supporter, and cannot believe we are going to Canada! Special thanks to the Underground family and Chris B for believing in us, and all their support.”

Loud Shaft is a Hong Kong based band. Founded in 2013, they have been performing in Hong Kong regularly.