He was mortal, after all.For decades, we held on to the belief that Joey “Pepe” Smith would be the last man standing and that somehow, despite his legendary excesses and, um, questionable lifestyle choices, he would continue to be a survivor.
Pepe Smith was strumming his guitar in the early hours of Jan. 28 at home in Cainta, Rizal, when he complained of heavy chest pain.
Optometrist Nella Sarabia sent me a frantic text message early in December: “Pepe is losing his sight.”
Saguijo is a rock club that was born, in the words of owner Chris Carlos, “in the spirit of the late, great Club Dredd.” What he meant was that saGuijo—named after its location on Guijo Street in Makati—is a venue of unknown but talented bands that play their own music, or at least do covers that have yet to be heard on TV variety shows.