NEW ORLEANS – The venerable New Orleans funk band Galactic purchased the historic music club Tipitina’s in late November 2018 and, according to bassist Robert Mercurio, was making a go of it.“It’s a tight-margin business but we were making our notes and fulfilling our bills and whatnot.
So, it was moving along in a good direction,” he said.That was before the coronavirus pandemic forced shutdowns of public gatherings.
Audiences last packed into Tipitina's for a March 12 performance by the Stooges Brass Band. Now, Mercurio is worried that COVID-19 could prove fatal to Tipitina's, a New Orleans cultural touchstone founded in the 1970s as the performance home for the late Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as rhythm and blues keyboard genius.