MANILA, Philippines?Saguijo, the live music hotspot that has gained a reputation as the Club Dredd of Makati, was packed to the gills the night we visited.

For a first-timer, there was no need to feel like a Johnny-come-lately because the place does remind one of the vibrant teen spirit that fueled the glory days of Dredd in Quezon City. But SaGuijo seems a bit more cozy.

We had come to check out fresh new talent, a band called Twin Lobster, composed of students from the St. Scholastica?s College of Music. It took a while for the group to plug in and get going.

Confident

But when the music came on, it was easy to mark the confidence that singer/guitarist Nick Lazaro projected. He brandished his hollow-body electric like a prized weapon, cranking riffs like his life depended on it.

He needs to work more on his vocals; he was unintelligible at times?or was his singing drowned out by uneven mixing?

In any case, drummer Manfred Francisco provided color and muscle to Twin Lobster?s sound, putting lots of staccato fill-ins to the rhythms in a style reminiscent of Stewart Copeland of the Police.

Bassist Marc Inting was no pushover either, transforming his timekeeper role with solid, improvised notes.

Carlos Velarde, a guitarist asked to join the band to play keyboards, kept a low profile but managed to intrigue those who stuck their ears close to the action?his stabs on the ivories, though limited to a few numbers, had a distinct appeal and echoed with the rich sound of the progressive rock group Yes.

The band?s songs, though quite difficult to make out on first listen, had the mood and tone of The Cure?s Robert Smith. A second listen, with the aid of a seven-track sampler CD, confirmed the appeal of two songs that initially impressed us: ?Don?t Be So F---ing Emo (Saktan),? in which Lazaro succeeds, despite his fractured Tagalog, in expressing the will to resolve a romantic conflict; and ?Stoner,? which takes a satirical swipe at the pathetic ways of drug-addled hipsters.

Twin Lobster?s music has a very promising bite and will feel right at home in SaGuijo (where, we heard, they?ve just agreed to perform again).

As we left, just outside the door were members of Up Dharma Down and Radioactive Sago Project, shooting the breeze before their own sets.

Old haunt

That same night, in Manila, we found the old haunt that was Hobbit House at its new location on M.H. del Pilar, near the corner of Arquiza.

World-famous in the 1970s and ?80s as a folksinger?s club where one could watch the likes of Freddie Aguilar and Asin on a weekly basis, Hobbit has retained much of its familiar interiors and, yes, the same retinue of little folks as servers.

We caught the last few numbers by Wally Gonzalez, one of the guest performers in a show called ?Greative Series.?

Short for ?great and creative,? the show aimed to promote veteran Pinoy rock musicians on a tour of small clubs where the audience could witness, up close, their idols? undiminished talents.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Tito Mina, a singer from the ?70s best known for the hit single ?Ikaw Pa Rin? (Tagalog adaptation of ?There Will Never Be Another You?).

Almost unrecognizable with long, white hair in a ponytail, Mina took the stage alone, and strummed an electric guitar while singing Eric Clapton?s ?Tears in Heaven.?

E-mail pconcepcion@inquirer.com.ph