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Mrs. Henry Reveal Their Top 10 Favourite North American Venues

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Mrs. Henry, photo by Kristy Walker

Lately, it’s been one of the most creatively rewarding periods of their career for the members of Mrs. Henry. The San Diego rock band released their latest album Keep On Rising – Act II: Faith, Fate and Hope in the Land of Nothing Matters in December. As is suggested by the album title, it is the continuation of the band’s last album, Keep On Rising – Act I: The Sex Sells, Love Drugs, Rock N Roll Society, which was released in the fall of 2021, and is the second part of a three album trilogy and rock opera series.

Featuring both stupendous jams and orchestra-based ballads, Act II most notably highlights the band’s wizardry within the studio, and their ability to create compelling, well-composed sonic dynamics. The album itself is focused on the transformation of character, picking up where Act I left off. That story left off with Mrs. Henry crossing over into the space of The Sex Sells, Love Drugs, Rock N Roll Society. With themes of faith, fate, and hope, Mrs. Henry invites you to crawl down the rabbit hole and get lost in the music.

We previously got to know Mrs. Henry last year when we caught up with frontman Dan Cervantes who at that time discussed working closely with singer-songwriter Jack Tempchin. Mrs. Henry joins us again today, this time for a special Top 10 list of their favourite North American venues they have gotten to know over these last few years.

1. Rebru Spirits (San Diego, California)

“Home of the Drunkard’s Dream Arts and Music Festival 2022 and 2023. Awesome and vibey grounds to play. Trippy speakeasy inside and two stages: the indoor barrel room and the outside porch. You can see a serene view of the iconic Coronado bridge from the outside stage as the sun goes down. Very SoCal, very San Diego and in the heart of Barrio Logan.” – Dan Cervantes

2. Thunderbird (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

“Thunderbird in Pittsburgh is one of the coolest things I’ve seen. The main room has probably a 50-foot ceiling with a nice stage and good sound with giant curtains behind the band. Looking out from the stage you see a giant floor space and three or four tears of balcony. And the whole thing is connected to a wild underground former bootlegging tunnel system that is in the works to being incorporated with the venue. It’s all been filled by the owner and has a very high-quality personalized feel. And ongoing labor of love that really pays off.

All the logistics are great there. Load-in is fantastic. Great crew. Great green room. They’ve got a washer, dryer, and a shower. There’s even a pinball machine. It just kind of rules!” – Blake Dean

3. Coach House (San Juan Capistrano, California)

“A venue in a business park that seems to not fit. But once inside you can feel the energy and past great artists that have been there. Not only are the seats right in front of the stage, the backstage area takes the cake. A labyrinth of corridors and secret rooms, it makes you feel like you are in some vaudeville escape room with no way to escape. Easily one of the best green rooms.” – Allan Ritter

4. Winchester Music Tavern (Cleveland, Ohio)

“A great mid-size venue that really caters to the band. You walk into this little bar area and think, ‘where’s the venue?!?’ But walk back through the back door and it opens up to this beautiful room with a long/big stage. All seating/standing is close to stage so the crowd’s energy can be felt from note one.” – Allan

5. Stone Church (Brattleboro, Vermont)

“An old church turned into a venue. Big cathedral ceilings and crazy basement. What else can you ask for! Great veggie chili for the band too: not a drop leftover.” – Blake

6. Horseshoe Tavern (Toronto, Ontario)

“Allan stole two of mine, so I’m going to go with Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. It’s got quite the history (Rolling Stones, Police, Talking Heads) and its checker floors are even name-checked in a song by The Tragically Hip (basically Canadian royalty).” – Doug Organ

7. Downtown Red Bluff (Red Bluff, California)

“Red Bluff is a classic small town downtown and cool clock tower in the middle. When we went on tour in July and headlined the inaugural Rock Of Red Bluff. It was a really special event the whole town got behind. It was hot! Your feet burn through your shoes if you aren’t in the shade but we luckily got to play right as it cools down for sunset and into the neon light night with the clock tower lit up. Lots of families, dogs, and kids dancing around and twirling glow sticks. Everyone doing the summer thing while we played ‘Rock of Ages’ by The Band.” – Dan

8. Thee Parkside (San Francisco, California)

“I had a great time playing Thee Parkside in San Francisco, even though (with horn section) we were twice as big as the stage! Excellent Buffalo fried chicken sandwich, and an engaged and supportive crowd packed into a cozy club. Might win the award for Most Dogs On The Patio 2022.” – Doug

9. The Siren (Morrow Bay, California)

“This is a really cool spot in a small town on the ocean. I’ve always had a great experience there with an awesome crowd of locals who love to support music, and tell you all about the giant rock located off of the coast. It’s got a cool stage with great sound and a funky green room made out of a shipping container.” – Jody Bagley

10. The Magnolia (San Diego, California)

“Amazing theater. Another ‘new’ old, renovated venue in San Diego that made its launch in January 2020. We performed the Last Waltz concert here and the facilities are second to none! Gorgeous 9ft Steinway Grand Piano on hand and probably the coolest feature ever, The Austrian curtain. We took full advantage of the curtain rise for the opening of ‘Up On Cripple Creek,’ giving a nice and dramatic start to our three-hour plus concert event.” – Jody

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