Ethnic food was The Middle East’s original focus. At least, that was the case until Roger Miller (Alloy Orchestra, Mission of Burma, Moving Parts) attended a U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble performance at the club in 1986.
Miller says that by the end of the night, he and his girlfriend were short $20 or $30.
Nabil Sater Habib, one of the club’s owners, told the musician he could pay the difference another time.
“I was like, man, this guy is fucking cool,” Miller says. “Of course, we left and never came back to pay. He got it back in spades later, though.”
The payback came in 1987 when Miller played the first scheduled rock show at the club and catalyzed The Middle East’s transformation from neighborhood hangout to alternative music haven.
The property, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, housed a Lebanese restaurant from 1970 until 1975 when Joseph and Nabil Sater Habib took over the lease and converted the space into a Middle Eastern lounge.
The site had hosted live entertainment since 1972––mostly blues and jazz acts, and international performers.
After Miller’s performance, alternative music became a staple at The Middle East. Prominent local promoter Billy Ruane began booking shows for the club, filling it with raucous rock bands and equally rambunctious fans.
Today, the venue lives on. Loyal customers pack its four performance spaces every week looking to experience ascendant new acts.
“It’s like dinner theater.”
Apart from a brief financial scare in 2014, the club has adeptly weathered the ever-changing music landscape and successfully attracted new generations of performers and listeners.
For Miller, it encapsulates the feeling that struck him upon relocating to Boston from Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1978: warmth.
“[Moving Parts] played our first show that year,” he recalls. “I remember during soundcheck I broke into the Pink Floyd song “Interstellar Overdrive,” and people cheered. I thought, my God, I’ve come home. It’s been that way every since. When I came to Boston, all of a sudden, I could do what I wanted to do.”
Since that first show in 1987, he’s played the club 30 or 40 times and it never gets old.
“It’s like dinner theater,” Miller says. “It’s cozy.”
Sonic Spaces is a series of brief vignettes that touch on key indie rock landmarks in the Boston area.