Club DREDD
Encyclopedia
Club Dredd was a nightclub
originally located in a small space on Timog Ave, Quezon City
, Philippines
. It was opened on 8 December 1990. The Timog venue had been a home for another rock venue called Red Rocks that closed down. It was put up by young rock musician Patrick Reidenbach and rock band manager Robbie Sunico. The club was named in tribute to their favorite comic book character, Judge Dredd
. They opened up the club with a small amount of money.
The concept was to provide a venue for budding Filipino rock musicians and the growing followers of the Pinoy rock
scene. This was not to be a venue for bands covering pop music
. Its customers didn’t know it then but many of the bands they watched then would eventually become the most popular recording acts in the 90s. Within a just few years, Club Dredd became the centre of the Metropolitan rock scene and the home of many musicians and bands of the existing music scene.
, Joey Ayala
, Bazurak (whose members eventually became part of RiverMaya
), Color It Red, Parokya Ni Edgar
, The Wuds, Razorback
, Wolfgang
, and Advent Call to name a few.
Club Dredd was beset by financial problems from its inception. After a valiant effort to sustain the business, Reidenbach and Sunico finally decided to throw in the towel in February 1993. Ironically, major record labels and radio stations including NU 107
and LA 105 were finally recognizing the potential of this music scene's growing following.
The financial struggles did not stop the club's co-owner Patrick from planning to reopen. True to Patrick's promise to the many patrons and bands of Club Dredd, he reopened its doors in a newer, larger site on EDSA. This was in January 1994, almost a year after the Timog venue closed. With better planning and more professional management, this club flourished until mid-1998.
Club DREDD in EDSA, still true to form, fostered new and exciting talent. It was the launching pad for even more artists that are hitting the airwaves today. Discovered at EDSA were bands like The Teeth
, Datu's Tribe, Put3Ska, Tribal Fish, Sugar Hiccup, Greyhoundz
,and Parokya ni Edgar
.
After four and a half years in operation, management decided it was time for a change and a new venue which they failed to do. So on 11 June 1998, right after NU 107
's event Independence Day Concert which featured the most popular bands at the time, Club Dredd once again closed its doors.
Although relatively quiet in the ensuing years, the guys behind Club Dredd did put up a website in 1999 called Club Dredd online that exists until today. Several small events were also organized as "Club Dredd presents".
In December 2005, Club Dredd habitué Karen Kunawicz
put up a month-long photo exhibit at Big Sky Mind called Back From the Dredd, featuring photos and memorabilia from her years hanging out at the bar. For the exhibit, Big Sky Mind actually repainted their second floor to resemble the defunct bar.
In March 2006, Rob and Patrick hosted a radio show in NU 107
called radioDredd, along with the infamous DJ Skul and Prof Ramone. It ran every Friday at 9 pm and featured an eclectic mix of new and old music, obscure and popular artists, local and foreign. It had a free-for-all format that often had the hosts openly arguing with each other on air, and fighting over what songs to play. It ran for over a year until it was canned in April 2007. No official explanation was made for it, but speculations ranged from lack of sponsorship to a raucous anniversary show that ran overtime and had many of the hosts and guests drunk and rowdy while on the air.
Club Dredd, the venue, reopened quietly in June 2007, in the second floor of Gweilos Bar in Eastwood City, Libis. It still featured many upcoming new acts and weird shows, introducing new acts such as Tanya Markova. On November 2010 though, Dredd Eastwood went on hiatus. A message featured on its website indicated that "Dredd 2.0" was in the works.
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
originally located in a small space on Timog Ave, Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. It was opened on 8 December 1990. The Timog venue had been a home for another rock venue called Red Rocks that closed down. It was put up by young rock musician Patrick Reidenbach and rock band manager Robbie Sunico. The club was named in tribute to their favorite comic book character, Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
. They opened up the club with a small amount of money.
The concept was to provide a venue for budding Filipino rock musicians and the growing followers of the Pinoy rock
Pinoy rock
Pinoy rock, or Filipino rock, is the brand of rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself, and bands adopting this style are now further classified under more specific genres or combinations of genres like alternative rock,...
scene. This was not to be a venue for bands covering pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Its customers didn’t know it then but many of the bands they watched then would eventually become the most popular recording acts in the 90s. Within a just few years, Club Dredd became the centre of the Metropolitan rock scene and the home of many musicians and bands of the existing music scene.
History
Club Dredd’s Timog bands list is quite impressive by today’s standards while at that time most of these acts had nowhere else to perform. Regular performers included now-famous names like the Eraserheads, The Youth, Afterimage, Athena’s Curse (presently known as Alamid), Grace NonoGrace Nono
Grace Nono is a Filipino singer, known for her musical style based on traditional Filipino rhythms.Nono was born in in Agusan, Mindanao. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Humanities and a Master's degree in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines.Nono released her debut album "Tao...
, Joey Ayala
Joey Ayala
Joey Ayala is a contemporary pop music artist in the Philippines. He is well known for his style of music that combines the sounds of Filipino ethnic instruments with modern pop music. His professional music career started when he released an album recorded in a makeshift-studio in 1982...
, Bazurak (whose members eventually became part of RiverMaya
Rivermaya
Rivermaya is one of the most influential, critically acclaimed and significant Filipino rock band formed in 1993. They are one of the several bands who spearheads the 90s Philippine alternative rock explosion...
), Color It Red, Parokya Ni Edgar
Parokya ni Edgar
Parokya ni Edgar is a Filipino band that was formed in 1993 by a group of college students. The band is famous and most lauded for its original rock novelty songs and often satirical covers of popular songs...
, The Wuds, Razorback
Razorback
Razorback is an Americanism, loosely applied to any type of feral pig or wild boar in North America. The term has also appeared in Australia, to describe said animals in that country.-Introduction to the Americas:...
, Wolfgang
Wolfgang
Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany and Austria. Its earliest known bearer was a tenth century saint. The name is a combination of the Old High German word wulf, meaning "wolf" and gang, meaning "path". Grimm interpreted the name as that of a hero in front of...
, and Advent Call to name a few.
Club Dredd was beset by financial problems from its inception. After a valiant effort to sustain the business, Reidenbach and Sunico finally decided to throw in the towel in February 1993. Ironically, major record labels and radio stations including NU 107
NU 107
NU107 was the flagship radio station of Progressive Broadcasting Corporation in the Philippines. The station's last studio was located at the ground floor, AIC Gold Tower, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City....
and LA 105 were finally recognizing the potential of this music scene's growing following.
The financial struggles did not stop the club's co-owner Patrick from planning to reopen. True to Patrick's promise to the many patrons and bands of Club Dredd, he reopened its doors in a newer, larger site on EDSA. This was in January 1994, almost a year after the Timog venue closed. With better planning and more professional management, this club flourished until mid-1998.
Club DREDD in EDSA, still true to form, fostered new and exciting talent. It was the launching pad for even more artists that are hitting the airwaves today. Discovered at EDSA were bands like The Teeth
The Teeth (Filipino band)
-History:The Filipino Grunge band Teeth was born during the alternative rock boom of the 1990s and exploded onto the airwaves with laklak, a tale of youthful excess that became an anthem for drinking. The track topped the charts of the Philippines' adventurous alternative rock station LA-105 for 12...
, Datu's Tribe, Put3Ska, Tribal Fish, Sugar Hiccup, Greyhoundz
Greyhoundz (band)
Greyhoundz is a Filipino Nu-metal/rap-metal band formed in the late 90's who gained international recognition and is currently based in Manila, Philippines.-Background:...
,and Parokya ni Edgar
Parokya ni Edgar
Parokya ni Edgar is a Filipino band that was formed in 1993 by a group of college students. The band is famous and most lauded for its original rock novelty songs and often satirical covers of popular songs...
.
After four and a half years in operation, management decided it was time for a change and a new venue which they failed to do. So on 11 June 1998, right after NU 107
NU 107
NU107 was the flagship radio station of Progressive Broadcasting Corporation in the Philippines. The station's last studio was located at the ground floor, AIC Gold Tower, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City....
's event Independence Day Concert which featured the most popular bands at the time, Club Dredd once again closed its doors.
Although relatively quiet in the ensuing years, the guys behind Club Dredd did put up a website in 1999 called Club Dredd online that exists until today. Several small events were also organized as "Club Dredd presents".
In December 2005, Club Dredd habitué Karen Kunawicz
Karen Kunawicz
Karen Kunawicz is a Philippine poet, writer, pop culture journalist, comic book editor, and former television show host and producer. She is sometimes popularly referred to as the Philippines' "Queen of the Goths."...
put up a month-long photo exhibit at Big Sky Mind called Back From the Dredd, featuring photos and memorabilia from her years hanging out at the bar. For the exhibit, Big Sky Mind actually repainted their second floor to resemble the defunct bar.
In March 2006, Rob and Patrick hosted a radio show in NU 107
NU 107
NU107 was the flagship radio station of Progressive Broadcasting Corporation in the Philippines. The station's last studio was located at the ground floor, AIC Gold Tower, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City....
called radioDredd, along with the infamous DJ Skul and Prof Ramone. It ran every Friday at 9 pm and featured an eclectic mix of new and old music, obscure and popular artists, local and foreign. It had a free-for-all format that often had the hosts openly arguing with each other on air, and fighting over what songs to play. It ran for over a year until it was canned in April 2007. No official explanation was made for it, but speculations ranged from lack of sponsorship to a raucous anniversary show that ran overtime and had many of the hosts and guests drunk and rowdy while on the air.
Club Dredd, the venue, reopened quietly in June 2007, in the second floor of Gweilos Bar in Eastwood City, Libis. It still featured many upcoming new acts and weird shows, introducing new acts such as Tanya Markova. On November 2010 though, Dredd Eastwood went on hiatus. A message featured on its website indicated that "Dredd 2.0" was in the works.