coronavirus pandemic forced shutdowns of public gatherings.Audiences last packed into Tipitina's for a March 12 performance by the Stooges Brass Band. Now, Mercurio is worried that COVID-19 could prove fatal to Tipitina's, a New Orleans cultural touchstone founded in the 1970s as the performance home for the late Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as rhythm and blues keyboard genius Professor Longhair.For Mercurio, the problem is twofold.