“It’s going to become increasingly impossible for us to make ends meet,” Galactic bassist and Tipitina’s co-owner Robert Mercurio told NOLA.com this week, detailing the club’s uncertain future in the COVID-19 era.

In December 2018, Galactic purchased Tipitina’s, a NOLA institution that was founded in 1977 and had its own history of financial uncertainty before the pandemic.

Now, with the live music industry at a standstill, the venue’s tight profit margins are even tighter.

“We were succeeding, but just barely, over our first year and a half of owning it. Not being able to hold shows, it’s going to become increasingly impossible for us to make ends meet,” Mercurio said.

In a recent chat with Relix, Mercurio echoed these sentiments, saying, “We were one of the first businesses to close and, most likely, we’re going to be one of the last able to open. And then—even once we can open— when are we going to be able to make a profit? The margins were already really slim when we were at full capacity and people wanted to be together.”

Read the full interview with NOLA.com here.