Ever since Milestones became High Fidelity I haven't seen a single band advertised that I wanted to see. What happened to the national acts they said they would bring in? Milestones was the top of the heap as far as local clubs, and I was disappointed and skeptical when it changed hands. My suspicions were right - they ran it into the ground just liie I thought they would. You can't blame it on "the music scene" in general. They simply did not bring in the acts that We the People wanted to see.

The new owners just didn;t have the same committment to live music. They should have just thrown a coat of paint on it and not messed with the formula. Hopefully a new owner will bring us a good lineup of local and national acts again.

To Mr. Gizzi,

I would have to disagree with you in regards to your comments on the lack of local support within the music scene.

I have tried numerous times to bring parties that would fill your venue past capacity, yet you didn't want hip-hop. We tried bringing numerous national acts to you, but you would never return any calls.

So, we went with other venues committed to supporting local music and arts and we blew the doors off. Sorry you didn't want to be a part because of musical prejudices.

I too, hope the new owners get that place back on track and change that horrid name. Let's bring it back to Milestones, the joint that every artist in the country was playing at.

Joe Gizzi's comments are borderline delusional. I have to agree with Dave Heyneman above. I promote shows in Rochester so I'm out literally every day leading up to our events handing out flyers, selling tickets, and spreading word of mouth. I have without question never seen anything advertised for High Fidelity ever since it opened. I never see it online, in print, or out on the street. Almost everyone I mention the venue to has never even heard of it. I have never seen anyone out promoting anything for High Fidelity. Ever. I can't even think of one band off the top of my head that has played there, aside from DJ Terrence Parker, and that was a one-off event from an outside promoter.

Myself and a few friends have thrown a multitude of shows in the Rochester area (both Monster Mash-Ups, The White T-Shirt Party, Sunglasses Only, Ugly Sweater Party) within the past 18 months or so at a variety of venues in the city. The scene is alive and well. We brought 625 people to Pearl in October of 2007. 400 people to Tilt in December 2007. 675 people to Pearl in May 2008. 700 people to Pearl in October 2008.

We actually approached Joe Gizzi in March of 2008 to try to throw the White T-Shirt Party with Ludachrist at High Fidelity. We had just been awarded 2007's Rochester Insider Party of the Year a few weeks before, and we had a multitude of video and photo reviews up on our blog (which we gave to Joe Gizzi) that clearly illustrated how massive our events were. There was absolutely no reasonable doubt that we could fill High Fidelity well beyond its capacity based on our previous accomplishments. Instead, he completely balked at the prospect, citing -- and I quote verbatim -- "I've been talking with the DJ over at Vinyl, he wants to come in here and try to do a weekly. I can't give you guys a Saturday..." at which point he declined our offer to throw the show there.

We instead threw the show at Pearl and drew 675 people, many of whom showed up as early as 8:00 pm to enjoy our extensive art gallery showing -- all of which we offered to do at High Fidelity. Pearl's bar probably made more on that night than High Fidelity did in that entire quarter. All of those people could have been at High Fidelity "supporting his club", and we probably would have done more shows at that venue because it was perfectly sized and laid out.

Ludachrist is on the absolute bleeding edge of "live music", which is somehow characterized as Gizzi as being on a "downturn" in Rochester. For that show, like I said, we drew 675 people, with a large portion of that attendance paying $25.00 at the door (and the same thing happened in October at the Monster Mash-Up 2). That's not a downturn. That's demand.

The difference is, us and other venues/promoters actually, um, work, get the word out on the street, and get people excited about this city and what can be done in it. I've never seen Joe Gizzi or High Fidelity do anything more than turn the lights on inside the club. A name change and some mediocre renovations aren't going to get anyone off their ass to go "support your club". Just because nobody shows up to your venue, it doesn't mean there's some social change happening in the world and people are suddenly downturned to live music. Take a look in the mirror, maybe. Why is the Bug Jar constantly rammed every week? How does Water Street continue to stay in business? Why does Dub Land continue to do successful events? I don't see live music struggling at any of those venues -- whatsoever.

If anything, any downturn in Rochester's live music scene can probably be attributed directly to High Fidelity and the methods with which it has been run directly into the ground.

- djb

As a member of about 7 local bands in the past 15 years and in three at present, Joe was responsible for his own downfall in my opinion because he never really "got it". "Got it" in the sense that there are better bands being ignored in a very vital local live music scene then he was bringing on stage. Was it due to superior musical knowledge that he brought unknowns into the scene? I doubt it. Also, the whole booking process was flawed from the start by allowing a very unprofessional non-reponse, no recognition of even a contact being made.
I finally gave up. Also, I have to agree with the publicity issues. High Fidelity? What's that?

I've had great experiences at High Fidelity both as a patron and a performer. In my dealings with Joe, he has always treated the bands well and has been a pleasure to work with. As basic as that sounds, we all know bar owners that screw the bands at the end of the night.

I wish I could disagree with Joe's assessment about the music scene in downtown Rochester but I don't see any other music club doing well besides the Bug Jar. Additionally, the younger bands that are starting to emerge might pack places but thier fans don't drink! That's where the bar makes it's money. No offense to Ludachrist but how many of their fans are going to blow $80 at the bar when they play? When Chris Trapper or Bacci or Mulletude plays, their crowds drink... a lot!

Best of luck to the staff at HiFi and all the bands that called it home.

I have been playing in the local music scene in countless bands and still currently do for the last 20 years. I have seen so many clubs come and go(and a lot that had the right idea unfortunately). I too realized that this club would come to a sad ending. Not one show made me have the urge to set foot in this place. There was no great attempt or promotion and the acts that they brought in were very questionable. The lack of local music scene and support comment has me laughing. I can think of 20 bands off the top of my head that would have had great nights at HF but the "quality" of the music, and the genres performing there would not have suited most of these bands. Why wouldn't you bring in bands that typically and often play smaller places like the Bug Jar or Monty's that do something DIFFERENT??? No offense to Uncle Plum(or the other cookie cutter bands) or their fans but if that's your only idea of local music then you have it COMPLETELY WRONG!!!

In response to JROD:

You obviously don't know what you're talking about pertaining to Ludachrist and the show that they played in Rochester. First of all, that show was a 21+ event, so I don't know where you make the correlation between "their fans" and them not drinking.

Were you even at that show? Or are you just commenting blindly on what you think may have happened based on nothing? Because anyone who was at that show knows that Pearl's bar was running at absolute FULL OUTPUT from 9pm until the stroke of 2 in the morning. Ask anyone who was there or just look at the numerous videos and photos we've got from that show on riproc.com. Make no mistake, Pearl's bar "made its money" that night. You obviously were not even at that party, so don't try to comment on who was there and who was or wasn't spending money. 675 people were there on that night and they were all over 21. Pearl's bar was running at full capacity for over 5 hours, plain and simple. "No offense" to you, but if you don't know, please don't try to tell other people your non-baked version of a show that you obviously didn't go to and about a group that you've never seen perform.

I'll borrow your phrase "no offense" again, but I don't care if a few dozen people drink "a lot", whatever that means, at a "Chris Trapper or Bacci or Mulletude" show. Pearl RAN OUT OF BEER when we brought 625 people to see Dieselboy, and they couldn't even keep it cold at the Ludachrist show when we had 675 people completely mobbing the bar for the duration of the night, all of which would have happened at High Fidelity, keep in mind. The owner of Pearl can confirm these two instances. Don't tell me that people weren't drinking at the Ludachrist show. And furthermore, even if you had 100 people spending $80 each at a Chris Trapper or whoever the hell show, Pearl's bar still made significantly more than that when we brought Ludachrist. You're just simply wrong and I won't debate this with you further.

Who in Rochester spends $80 at the bar? Firstly, if they do, they're an idiot. Secondly and more importantly, that's by far NOT the typical Rochestarian clubgoer. If you or anyone at High Fidelity even remotely shapes their business model or evaluation of the scene around this type of moronic expectation, it's no surprise to me that, a) you don't know what you're talking about, as I've established, and, b) High Fidelity is closing, which is happening.

I'm glad that you had great dealings with Joe Gizzi and that he was a pleasure to work with. That's downright peachy. He seemed like a stand-up guy and neither myself or anyone that I know of currently has or had anything against him as a person. His character isn't in question. It's the methods with which High Fidelity was ineffectively run and subsequently driven directly into the ground is what the substance of what happened here is. What I have a problem with is Joe Gizzi's blatantly scapegoating comments about the state of the Rochester music scene to try to mislead people about the real reason why High Fidelity is closing.

I still strongly stand by my statement that the live music scene in Rochester is absolutely NOT on a downturn, and I think you're viewing things from a very obtuse perspective by agreeing with Joe Gizzi. And this is why...

First let's first figure out what we're talking about, here. "Bars making money" is an altogether different thing than *how well the music scene is doing*. It's very ridiculous of you to just lump them into the same pile. I'm just not seeing the logic behind you and Joe Gizzi somehow making the leap to say the equivalent of 'well, high fidelity's closing - it must be because local music is on a downturn.' The closing of High Fidelity has absolutely nothing to do with the state of the local music scene. All you have to do is look at venues like Bug Jar, Dub Land, Pearl, Water Street, and then also look at parties from RIPROC (myself), Act:Live, Nickel Bag Of Funk, deBlase, and many more outfits that month in/month out continue to thrive and pack hundreds of people into their venues/parties because they continue to put effort into what they do. In the end, it really is that simple.

If the bar isn't making enough money, it's not "music's" fault. Please, man. That's quite a stretch. When a bar isn't making money and closes down, you can make up a bunch of excuses to tell your friends, family, and yourself to help you sleep better at night, but in the end, it's the same reason as every other venue that's ever closed down in the history of booze. High Fidelity didn't understand the game. They didn't understand local music, their demographic, they didn't know who were the valuable promoters in the scene, they didn't take any risks, they didn't get the word out on the street, and they subsequently didn't get anyone excited about the venue. Sprinkle on top of that ridiculous expectations and a vapid business sense, and soon it becomes clear that the failure of High Fidelity is due to nothing short of a categorical failure to understand any of the above. And we're seeing the results of doing that. Bottom line.

"Best of luck to the staff at HiFi". Why? Did they catch a bad break? Do they deserve another shot? No, man. They got what they put into it. And that is nothing. Welcome to the world. Spin it however you want, but High Fidelity is closing for a much better reason than because of "music". It's downright laughable to say that and expect people to believe it.

Joe Gizzi is a class act when it comes to bar owners. I spent time at High Fidelity as both a patron and performer and he was fantastic. Unfortunately, the location was not the best for a live music venue. APub, Dubland, etc...are located in heavy traffic areas where people can crawl from one spot to another. And I know all about tough times with bars, so I can sympathize! I wish Joe the best with his future endeavors.