The Wuds: 28th Anniversary Celebration in Concert At the Park

This post is a repost of an invitation sent by NPDC to me with a few research about The Wuds.


Bobby Balingit (guitar/vocals), Alfred Guevara (bass guitar/vocals) and Aji Adriano (drums), collectively known as The Wuds, celebrate the 28th anniversary of the formation of their band in Concert at the Park, this Sunday, July 24, 2011, starting at 5:00 p.m. Venue is the Rizal Park Open-Air Auditorium, Manila. Ms. Minette Padilla is program host. Admission is free.

Wuds’ program line-up, this Sunday, is as follows: SA LOOB NG GULONG (Guevara); TRAFFIC (Balingit); LOOBAN (Guevara); SARANGGOLA SA DILIM (Balingit); TAONG HAYOP (Guevara); TRI CORDI JOE (Balingit); SAMPAGUITA (Balingit); GERA (Balingit); SAYANG ANG ORAS (Balingit); RADIO FRIENDLY (Guevara); WE (JUST LIKE BEFORE); NO EXCUSES (Guevara); AT NAKALIMUTAN ANG DIYOS (Balingit); and INOSENTE LANG ANG NAGTATAKA (Balingit).

Admission to Concert at the Park is free of charge. The public is cordially invited.

A little background about The Wuds,

According to the online registry of Filipino Musical Artists, The Wuds is a punk band consisting of Bobby Balingit on vocals, Adji Alejandro on drums, Alfred Guevarra on bass. The band's first album was entitled "Fatal Response" which was released in 1985.

Apparently they also have a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/thewuds. According to their page, "The Wuds were among the first — and most influential — punk rock bands in the Philippines. In the early ’80s, punk bands began to form in the Philippines as economic woes and political unrest started to fuel a burgeoning underground scene. The Wuds, along with Third World Chaos, the Philippine Violators, the Betrayed, and the Dead Ends, roared their amps in a country once dominated by easy listening artists.

Not surprisingly, there was little mainstream acceptance. Radio airplay was limited to Howlin’ Dave’s punk rock show on Manila radio station DZRJ. However, the Wuds and their peers found loyal support from the small independent label Twisted Red Cross and exposure through the Brave New World concerts. Given that rock audiences in the Philippines were divided between hippies and punks, violence was not uncommon; nevertheless, the Wuds were actually devout Krishna’s, quite different from the public stereotyping of punk rockers as immoral troublemakers. Throughout the ’80s, the Wuds remained outside of mass acceptance.

In the early ’90s, though, Manila underwent an alternative rock revolution and the Wuds were lauded as pioneers, especially by the popular punk group the Youth. The Wuds — featuring Bobby Balingit (vocals, lead guitar), Alfred Guevara (vocals, rhythm guitar), and Allen Calixto (drums) — released a long-waited debut album, At Nakalimutan Ang Diyos (And God Was Forgotten), in 1994. Raw and uncompromising, At Nakalimutan Ang Diyos solidified the Wuds’ status as one of the Philippines’ true punk rock bands. Two years later, the group recorded Gera (War), an intense record with powerful social and political commentary à la the Clash. The anti-war track “Ang Umibig Sa ‘Yo” (“One Who Loved You”) became a hit on Philippine alternative radio stations. In 1997, the Wuds released Nakaupo Sa Puso (Sitting on the Heart). By refusing to soften or polish their sound to appeal to a larger market, the Wuds continued their reign as the Philippines’ most respected veteran rock outfit."

I decided to keep the information as it is to get as much attention how The Wuds have been part of the local music industry that needs the Filipinos' appreciation.

See you at the Rizal Park.