Sheffield jazz bar launches fundraising drive to support reopening after government bans live performances

Trippets Lounge Bar has set up a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising £5,000 to purchase recording and projection equipment to showcase some of the city's finest jazz musicians without them performing live in situ.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that many hospitality businesses, such as bars and cafes, could reopen from July 4.

Under reopening guidance, however, live performances will be banned – a key feature at the popular jazz bar on Trippet Lane before lockdown.

Co-owner, Debbie Shaw, said: “We’re a jazz bar at the end of the day but without music, we aren’t. I remembered going to a bar years ago and they used to project some black and white movie images on the walls without a projection screen so I wondered if that would work at Trippets.

“If we can film the bands when nobody is here and we’re not open, then we can ensure they social distance. We’d then play it back on our walls.

“Rather than just be an image that you look at, it’d be something on the wall to create an atmosphere and we can play the soundtrack back too.”

Debbie and her husband Carl opened Trippets in 2015 and have worked to offer everyone the opportunity to “drink, dine, dance, and enjoy some of the best live jazz from local musicians.”

When coronavirus hit, the bar was forced to close and over three months later its funds have been ‘sorely depleted’.

“We had to shut everything down,” Debbie added. “Some orders were in for alcohol, but I hadn’t ordered much because I could see what was going to happen – what we had got left we returned to the suppliers just to lessen our bills.”

All money raised will enable Trippets to re-stock ahead of its reopening on July 11, as well as fund the installation of projection equipment and the musicians.

During lockdown, the building was also daubed with unwanted graffiti, therefore, the team are appealing for an artist to help cover it.

For more information email: [email protected].

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