The Met

The Met is the third iteration of the club. Three childhood friends, Josh Miller, Tom Fairchild, and Riley Hayford, opened the first version called the Met Café. The Met Café opened in 1975 in the Jewelry District, alongside Route 195. Hayford played the first night in what quickly evolved into a pass-the-hat venture featuring local acts. In time, national acts like Roomful of Blues and the Fabulous Thunderbirds were playing in the club.

The second version of the Met was downtown on Union Street, attached to the second location of The Strand’s in the Peerless Building. It had a decade-long run from 1993 to 2003, disappearing when The Strand’s shifted to its current home. The Dave Matthews Band, Oasis, and the Black-Eyed Peas were among the acts that made their Rhode Island debuts at the club.

The new venue is a versatile music room booking rock, folk, punk, blues and more. Longtime booking agent Jack Reich comments, “The Met is the mid-sized room Rhode Island has been missing for some time.”