The Mez

See Gone, But Not Forgotten.

The Mez, originally named the House of Hamez, was a cafe and music club located in the South Wedge neighborhood. It occupied the first floor of a building on Gregory Street at Cayuga Street in the South Wedge neighborhood.

In an effort to support the arts, The Mez filled its nights with music, poetry and comedy. You could join in or just be a witness to some of the great local and regional talent that stepped up on the stage. The room itself offers great acoustics which makes it a great place to hear music.

The staples of the coffeehouse were the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday open mics. Tuesdays from 7pm to 10pm were for singer/songwriters and musicians. Wednesdays 8pm to 11pm was an open jam hosted by "the nameless band." This is open to all musicians and was a group participatory jam. There was even a house djembe and guitar.

Thursdays 8pm to 11pm were for the poets and writers of prose and songs. Thursdays featured poetry (primarily), music and comedy on a rotating schedule. Two poetry groups alternated hosting: the Free Speech Zone series hosted by Rochester Poets president Frank Judge and musician/composer Ed Downey; and the Pure Kona open mic hosted by publisher Norm Davis and DJ Rick Petrie. These nights had a great sense of community. Everyone was welcome and encouraged to join in.

Friday and Saturday nights were reserved for shows. The Mez's Web site is still up and has not been updated with any information about the clubs closing.

The Mez offered free WiFi and was owned and operated by James Rowe.

In October 2009, the site of The Mez was refurbished and new owner Kerri Vaughn opened the Tango Cafe. The featured readings and open mic are now on Tuesday nights, 8 pm, with other free events Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday are

Comments:

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2007-10-09 19:08:48   Daily Perks has apparently reopened as "The House of Hamez" — http://www.houseofhamez.com/index.php.

Based on the description on this page, it sounds like it might be being run by the same person. —MattBernius

2007-11-14 13:45:46   Haven’t been there under the new name yet but went to Daily Perks every few months for live music. The coffee was always good. I will be going this Saturday night to hear my cousin Brian Coughlin and his 6 year long running "Songwriters in the Round" series. I’m excited to see what House of Hamez offers food and drink wise as well. I really do hope they are keeping the audience focus on music during live performances. It was great to go a place where the audience gave 100% of their attention to the musicians and not laptops, cell phones and conversation. Got my fingers crossed. —ZedOmega

2007-12-05 01:30:55   Love the open mic here - playing and listening. Warm, supportive, eclectic crowd. You never know what you'll hear. The food is excellent and
reasonably priced. —DavidGervasi

2008-04-17 09:02:42   I stopped by here last night as I was coming out of the Tap and Mallet just to see what it was like. I had to go meet friends and could not stay. Looks like a cool place, the crowd seemed chill as well and the owner was friendly. I look forward to checking this place out out. —BadFish