A photo of The High Watt's "soft opening" found via Facebook
All right. So anyone worth his or her salt within the local rock community has probably already heard about — if not seen — Mercy Lounge's new stage, which they're calling The High Watt. You see, for months and months, rumors circulated about a new venue that would be opening as part of the 1 Cannery Row family. But we were asked not to talk about it. Now, however, it seems as though The High Watt is not its own freestanding venue, but rather "a second stage in the Mercy Lounge." As a matter of fact, if you were at Mercy Lounge this past Saturday evening —
The Spin was at Dr. Dog, hence our lack of coverage on the affair — then you know that The Cadillac Black, Happy Little Trees, Brother Lover and The Poor Boys performed on The High Watt stage.
For one reason or another, the Mercy folks still want to keep info on The High Watt pretty close to the vest. But when asked directly for the scoop on the new stage, they offered us this statement:
At this juncture, the only two venues we have onsite are the Mercy Lounge and the Cannery Ballroom. Some of our upcoming shows at Mercy Lounge will take place on a second stage in the Mercy Lounge, which is being called The High Watt stage. We have begun to utilize this stage so that we can more effectively accommodate the wide range of acts that wish to perform at 1 Cannery Row. For anyone curious about the current arrangement, we recommend simply attending some of our upcoming events.
Now, if you look at
Mercy Lounge's calendar page, you'll see that some shows have a lightning-bolt icon next to the listing rather than the typical Cannery or Mercy icons. These, I have deduced (by being told), are shows that will take place on The High Watt stage. One of the aforementioned shows is tonight's Craig Finn appearance. If you
holler at us on Twitter, you can win a pair of guest spots to that. Other upcoming shows booked for The High Watt Stage are as follows:
