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Created: February 18, 2021 03:54 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) If ever there was a metaphor for the state of live music today, it would be this bus. Parked in a storage unit, It belongs to the Zac Brown Tribute Band. known by fans as ZBTB. Before COVID, the Rochester-based band could be found playing at clubs, arenas and festival sites throughout the northeast. Just weeks before everything shut down, they bought a tour bus. And much like the band, it has sat idle since March. It s been here for months, just taking up space, ZBTB lead vocalist Pete Frank said. We never would have expected the entertainment business would be folded for 12 months.
Rochester jazz fest leaves downtown, devastating news for some mpnnow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mpnnow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The 2019 CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival featured nine nights of concerts on Parcel 5. Downtown Rochester bar owners are hoping the organizers of the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival will change their mind on moving the event to Henrietta, if not this year, then next. Festival co-producers Marc Iacona and John Nugent announced Thursday that they plan to move the nine-day concert series from its traditional location downtown to the Rochester Institute of Technology, in part to adhere to current social distancing guidelines. The event attracted more that 200,000 people in 2019. Michael O’Leary, who has owned Temple Bar and Grille on East Avenue for the last 14 years, said the last one has been the hardest. He had 22 employees a year ago. Today, he has seven. Like most bar owners, the pandemic forced him to seek aid from the city, the county, and the federal government just to stay afloat.
In addition to the bars in the area losing business, the City of Rochester may not provide funding for the event if it isn’t held in the city itself. In the past, the festival has used the city funding for security, as well as huge public shows.
Justin Raj, the City of Rochester’s Communications Director gave a statement, saying:
Today’s announcement should remind us all of the need to fight the COVID pandemic so life can return to normal. The City was unaware of the organizers’ decision until this morning. However, we look forward to working with them to return the Jazz Festival to our downtown next year.”