Every Wednesday from 7-10 p.m., Mestizo Coffee House hosts an open mic night. This Wednesday’s open mic night was titled “Espresso Yourself.” For those who haven’t been to Mestizo’s, there’s a gallery space in the back of the café that is used for events such as this. It’s a decent sized room that comfortably seats a few dozen guests and the open mic performers as well. Local art pieces adorn the walls, which fits Mestizo’s effort to promote and connect with its neighboring communities.
As for the open mic night, the quality of both the performers and the audience was superb. The performances included a wide range of talents from acoustic music and singing to stand up comedy and slam-style poetry. The best part of the open mic night was that local up-and-coming artists were the stars of the performances. A lot of the artists also had particularly interesting stage names such as Chairface and Pablo El Diablo.
I liked the heavy blues and country influence in the acoustic and vocal performances. The blues performance had two songs I particularly enjoyed. One was a classic blues style song and the other was a commentary on the politics around Bears Ears. Another singer with amazing vocals, performed a country style song that told of her experience of moving country to country when she was a kid. Noise Ordinance, another band that performed, had a unique style, consisting of rock and blues.
The slam style poetry was very well written and executed. The poems were reflective pieces about drug addiction and advice that the poet might have given to his younger self. Unfortunately, there was only one poem performance. The only other oratory performance was stand up comedy done by an artist named David. I’m not sure if the performance was geared towards an older audience — I wasn’t able to appreciate David’s particular humor but a large portion of the audience found his performance funny.
In retrospect, I’d recommend open mic to anyone who is trying to become more involved with the local arts community. Aside from the great coffee and amazing venue, the weekly open mic nights at Mestizo Coffee House provides a nice getaway from daily stress. The open mic events run 7-10 p.m. every Wednesday. For more information, feel free to visit mestizocoffeehouse.com.