Dredd, finally

Club Dredd. We finally got to play Club Dredd. Hold on while I try and come to grips with that seemingly insignificant piece of information. FMD, fronting in Jeepney Joyride’s official album launch, played at Club Dredd. I played at Club Dredd.

Sure, not the Dredd of old, but it’s still Club Dredd. Ever since I started learning to play the guitar, I’ve dreamed of playing at three venues: Mayric’s, UP and Club Dredd. Mayric’s was relatively easy, and so was UP. Dredd though, closed down some time ago and it seemed nothing more than a pipe dream. Until it’s re-opening at, of all places, Eastwood.

Fine, it’s in the exact same spot Gweilo’s was, and we’ve played there a few times before. And there isn’t any real significance to landing a gig there. But it’s still Dredd. For me, it’s not a place, it’s a symbol: rock ‘n roll. It may not look it anymore, it may not even feel it, but that’s what Dredd will always mean for me.

I may bleed the blues, but my heart pumps rock n’ roll. And as Malcom Mclaren, manager of the Sex Pistols once said: Rock and roll doesn’t necessarily mean a band. It doesn’t mean a singer, and it doesn’t mean a lyric, really. It’s that question of trying to be immortal.

And in that moment, on that stage, with my band, I was.