Stepping inside The Launchpad live music venue in Philipsburg feels like you’re stepping inside the brain of Shawn Inlow, the mad genius who dreamed up and created the space.
Initial impression: there’s a lot going on. Bursts of color, larger-than-life characters and myriad motifs mix and match everywhere—in the lobby area, around the bar, in the bathrooms and, of course, in the performance room. After settling in, though, you realize that, just like in Inlow’s very alive mind, everything makes sense, has layers to it and is there for a reason. Often many reasons.
“Joan Jett guards the women’s bathroom, because you need a tough girl,” Inlow explains as we pass a giant Sharpie drawing of the rock star on the wall.
Pointing out the boldly painted doors, Inlow offers a brief commentary on Piet Mondrian’s color theory.
“Everyone else was painting women who were very round on beaches and stuff, and he was doing like, squares of bright colors,” Inlow says.
To say The Launchpad space is “unexpected” doesn’t do the place justice. Inlow spent two years remodeling the hundred-year-old building into the live music/theatre/entertainment/rental space it is today, infusing the “crazy influences” he’s had over the years—after a stint as a journalist and a career in law enforcement—into the venue he’s been envisioning for 16 years.
From crappy to creative
The Launchpad really started to take form one day as Inlow was moping in his coffee about how he needed to find a place for his band, Stoneman, to play.
Jenny Horton, the hostess with the mostest at Poppy’s Café and Catering, offered Inlow the upstairs of her restaurant. She gave Inlow a tour, and despite the place being “filthy, dirty, cruddy, crappy, just ugh!” Inlow was not deterred.
“I super got carried away,” he says. “One idea after another just kept coming.”
During the height of COVID, Inlow spent his days completely transforming the place that was once home to the Philipsburg Elks Club (now headquartered at the Philipsburg Country Club), and briefly where Jazzercise classes took place (until the roof fell in one day). Inlow hauled out “decades of stored-up junk” and threw it in a giant dumpster over the fire escape. He cleared out blown insulation, did away with the drop ceilings, added windows, and turned himself into a pretty first-rate handyman.
He also turned the neglected old dump of a storage space into a place people are constantly comparing to an artsy loft you’d find in Brooklyn. The main music room is full of intimate “mini living rooms,” with a collection of cozy couches and recliners, personal coffee tables and mood lamps, pillows, stuffed animals and “a bunch of Mr. Potato Heads. You know, weird stuff!”
The musicians themselves are sometimes set up in a distinctive style—spread throughout the space, rather than performing on a traditional stage. The drummer, for instance, is placed in the middle of the room when Stoneman plays.
“No matter where you sit, you get a front row seat,” Inlow says. “The band isn’t set up in a little corner somewhere. That was part of the design—we’ve taken and disassembled this paradigm in music and in theater [that dictates] the audience belongs in its place, and the entertainment belongs in its place, and there’s usually a wasteland of space in between. That proscenium, that invisible, imaginary wall, is an unwritten rule in performance. What I wanted to do is have everyone on the stage with you. What we’ve done here, when you move around the room, you hear the music differently. You’re the tone control. If you want to look over the drummer’s shoulder, you can do that. You can change the way you hear the music based on where you are.”
Inlow also hired Bailey Lukens, a Philipsburg-Osceola High School student, who runs his own sound business.
“He’s brilliant,” Inlow says. “I told him I wanted the best stereo you’ve ever heard. The music comes from the roof. None of the speakers are pointed at you. When you come here, you’re going to hear something you’ve never heard before.”
Nowadays, the Second Street structure is still the buzzing hub of locals who enjoy the homemade specials and homey hospitality of Poppy’s from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the week. On weekend nights, though, The Launchpad comes alive, inviting guests to experience something that’s a refreshing refuge from typical bar cover bands.
Philipsburg’s ‘in’ spot
Since it opened its doors last fall, The Launchpad has hosted a broad range of local artists, from rock ’n’ roll to Appalachian Mountain roots to contemporary Christian music. Plans are in the works to add an even wider variety of performers—comedy clubs, local youth bands—to the line-up. Inlow wants The Launchpad to be a place not only to launch his own ideas, but to serve as an outlet for other artists, too, and to launch Philipsburg further into the creative enclave it’s becoming.
“Philipsburg desperately needs some nightlife, and we’re reimagining it,” Inlow says. “People want so much to have it. They want so much to stop watching Netflix.”
Local folk musician Megan McGarry recently played The Launchpad for the first time with her band, The Megan McGarry Trio.
“I didn’t realize it was going to be as large as it is,” she says. “I walked in, and you see the drum set right there, the little corners, all of the lighting—I was blown away. Great space! It’s nice how everyone’s sort of dispersed. It’s that perfect combo. You feel like you’re out, but it has that living room vibe to it. It’s really comfy, I like that. It’s a great place to open. We’re thrilled to be here.”
It was McGarry’s bandmate Mark Preve’s second concert at The Launchpad.
“It’s like you’re playing a home concert,” he says.
And McGarry’s cousin, Ken Radzieta, who came from Clearfield to support his kin, reacted to the space with the common, “Whoa! This is in Philipsburg?!”
The Launchpad provides affordable, all-in-one entertainment. It’s BYOB (so you always get your favorite drink), with refrigeration service, frosted mugs and waitstaff to refill glasses. Poppy’s offers catering, also, so you can get a bite, listen to some music and hang out. Even chat if you want to. Inlow says the old wood and brick walls, with their cracks and crevices, absorb sound perfectly. The acoustics are excellent for performers and audience members alike.
“You want to stay a while, you don’t want to spend a million dollars on drinks, you don’t have to,” Inlow says. “This town used to jump back in the ’80s, man, and now there’s literally nothing. This town needs a music venue, and I’m doing it the right way, I think. This town deserves it and needs it. You don’t have to go to State College to find some entertainment.”
While you never know what sort of sound you’ll hear emanating from the speakeasy-esque spot, you do know it’ll be original.
“We’re breaking a lot of rules, and I hope people get that they’re doing something at The Launchpad they haven’t done before,” Inlow says. “I want a place where musicians can play new songs, artists doing their thing, really interesting acts.”
Inlow is also a seasoned actor, director, and theater technician and is planning The Launchpad’s first season of theater. In addition, the Launchpad is available to rent out for private parties and other events, and Inlow serves as a DJ upon request. His band is also available to book.
“We’re making our own little mountain stage, if you will, here in Philipsburg,” says Inlow. “It would be pretty cool for the town, I think, to speak to folks in State College—‘Hey, there’s a really cool, slumming thing you can do in Philipsburg if you really want to step out and do something you’re not used to, and have a good time—there you go.” T&G
Teresa Mull is a freelance writer who loves living in Philipsburg. This story appeared in the March 2022 issue of Town&Gown.
