Nostalgic Pinoys bid farewell to Route 196 as beloved Quezon City pub shuts down

Route 196, the 15-year-old iconic pub in Katipunan, Quezon City, yesterday announced that it has permanently closed its doors.

The pub’s management said that it has reached “the end of the road” in a series of online posts, reminiscing on the “noise we made, the rules we broke, and the friends we picked up along the way.”

“[N]ever forget that, for 15 years, all roads led to Route 196,” it reminded its patrons.

The beloved venue had hosted live acts from rock icons Teeth and Eraserheads, to electronic music darlings Up Dharma Down and Pasta Groove. It was also the first live platform for many upcoming college bands, some of whom made it big, such as IV of Spades.

It announced that it will be selling a “Farewell T-shirt” designed by artist Rob Cham for supporters to remember them by.

While Route 196 did not give a reason for its permanent closure, many bars and dining establishments in Metro Manila have shuttered due to government rules that sought to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical experts have said that the coronavirus spreads quickly inside bars and pubs.

https://www.facebook.com/Route196Rocks/posts/3525591674138363

Online, meanwhile, erstwhile pub-goers only had good memories to share of the beloved bar, with @fionze_941108 tweeting, “Last gig I watched at Route was @cheatsmusic…This is also where I first met the love of my love…Thank you Route 196. Thank you for everything.”

https://twitter.com/fionze_941108/status/1297641053881692160

Sandwich vocalist and former Eraserheads drummer Raymond Marasigan said “goodnight” and goodbye to the Katipunan bar in a series of posts. He also retweeted this video from fan @slickmaster which showed him crowd surfing in the venue during a 2015 album launch.

“F*ck it, it’s wild, man,” the fan wrote.

i think diego pushed 😳 https://t.co/5WYtdbDqgu

— Rayray Marasigan (@raymsmercygun) August 24, 2020

A pub-goer using the handle @francistried waxed nostalgic about the venue’s role in the local music scene.

“Route 196 will forever be home to me. I may not be a musician of some sort, but here I found music that I genuinely loved. Here, I discovered that the local music scene was still, more than alive,” she tweeted.

route 196 will forever be home to me. i may not be a musician of some sort, but here i found music that i genuinely loved. here, i discovered that the local music scene was still, more than alive. pic.twitter.com/vUa9yTRJ9a

— Gayle (@francistried) August 23, 2020