Rochester Jazzfest Brings Gladys Knight To Eastman Theatre

6/26/2026 - Rochester, New York - When the Rochester International Jazz Festival schedule is released earlier in the year, I check the schedule for acts I may like to see. This year when I saw the Queen of Soul, Gladys Knight, was set to perform at the Eastman Theatre I ran to my calendar and checked that we were available and bought tickets as soon as they went on sale. Today is the day to head down to the Jazz Festival in downtown Rochester and see her perform. We made it down early on this nice June evening and took in some of the outdoor music and grabbed a bite to eat. We headed into the gorgeous Eastman Theatre soon after the doors were opened, grabbed a drink and headed to our excellent seats, front row balcony near center stage to watch one of my favorite female artists perform. Gladys was playing solo with no opening act on this evening. The 82 year old multi Grammy award winning artist hit the stage and played a very short set. She looked fantastic but a little frail carefully walking and dancing a little bit on stage. She sang some of hits including I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me and If I Were Your Woman. She sounded really good when she sang but she also seemed kind of lost in some of the songs. Her backup singers carried the majority of the load on this night. She closed the show with Midnight Train to Georgia and seemed a bit lost. The show only lasted an hour and people were not happy, but seeing this legend perform one more time in one of the nicest venues in the area was well worth the price of admission this evening. Thanks Gladys you are the Queen Of Soul, no disrespect Aretha.Slideshow
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Gladys Knight performs Heard It Through The Grapevine at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York on Jun 26, 2026

Gladys Knight performs Best Thing That Ever Happened & If I Were Your Woman at Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York on Jun 26, 2026