Live music returns to Yoshi's
OAKLAND – Live music returned to the stage at Yoshi's in Oakland Friday night.
Musicians and patrons say it's been more than a year... since they've been to a live music event.
The mood was electric inside the venue.
Fans say live music has a way of bringing people together especially a performance by a Bay Area legend.
Pete Escovedo, an East Bay native, brings Latin jazz back to Yoshi's.
The artist is playing before a live audience for the first time since Valentine's Day last year on this very stage.
"Tto tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous. I haven't played in over a year," says Escovedo during a backstage interview with KTVU shortly before his performance.
He and his band are the first artists to take to Yoshi's stage since the venue shut down due to the pandemic last March.
"Yoshi's is always my favorite place to play in the Bay Area and we've been playing here for years," says Escovedo.
Fans say they've gone too long without live music which they describe as food for the soul.
"Live music is the best music," says Avonni McCreary, a patron from Oakley, "Live music does something different to you. It makes you excited."
A sold out crowd of 300 for the night's first show.
One family says they're coming together for the first time since the pandemic.
"What better way to celebrate all us us being vaccinated together and make sure we enjoy the music and the ambience that Yoshi's brings," says Ryan McCreary, a patron who attended with relatives from around the Bay Area and as far away as Washington state.
The restaurant portion of the business reopened three months ago.
Yoshi's general manager Hal Campos credits community support in raising nearly $200,000 and loans for helping the business stay afloat.
"Surviving was really hard, We almost lost the business twice," Campos says, "When I have a show. The artist is coming back home. That's how I feel like this is their home and I'm just hosting them at their home."
Escovedo plays at Yoshi's every year.
He says this night is a wish come true. He wanted to be the first artist to play at Yoshi's for its reopening.
"It's the beat of your heart. It keeps our heart beating. It keeps us alive, the music. it keeps us alive-the music.
Escovedo will be playing at Yoshi's through Sunday.
He will be celebrating his 86th birthday July 13th and he says he's considering retiring.
So audiences this weekend will be getting a special treat.
Yoshi's general manager tells me there are artists booked every weekend through January 2022, when the business celebrates its 50th anniversary,
