The Middle East (nightclub)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Middle East is a live music venue, bar and restaurant in the Central Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Having featured a huge variety of musicians over the last 25 years, The Middle East is one of the most important alternative music venues in New England and features "nothing less than the finest indie-rock shows around".[1]

Middle East Nightclub showing ZuZu, Upstairs and Downstairs entrances
Middle East Nightclub showing ZuZu, Upstairs and Downstairs entrances








Contents

[edit] Reputation

According to the Weekly Dig, The Middle East "reigns supreme as Boston's best rock and/or roll joint" [1] and the Boston Globe has called it the city's hippest night spot." [2] Rolling Stone has called this place "the exalted The Middle East"[3]

The importance of The Middle East to the music scene in Greater Boston spans many genres. The Boston Phoenix describes:

Still the premier place to hear indie rock, the Middle East also has garnered a reputation for serving up the cream of the indie hip-hop crop. Voted best hip-hop club by our readers for the third year running, the Middle East has played host to Mr. Lif, 7L & Esoteric, Los Nativos, Jedi Mind Tricks, Killah Priest, Outerspace, Irepress, Masta Killah, and Jake the Snake, to name a few. The Middle East has no rival when it comes to underground hip-hop.[1]

In addition to those music forms already noted, The Middle East is a venue for artists in other genres including "jazz, blues, funk, reggae, ska, pop, punk, and various combinations thereof."[4]

[edit] Venue

Begun in 1974 as a Lebanese restaurant owned and operated by the Sater Family, The Middle East has since expanded into adjacent storefronts and is now a complex of four different areas each with its own entrance. They are (from left to right):

  • Upstairs at the Middle East, a 200 person capacity concert space
  • ZuZu, a restaurant and bar with sophisticated decor and menu that features live music several nights a week with small occasional cover charge
  • The Corner, a 70 person capacity restaurant and bar that features live music several nights a week with no cover charge; often has belly dancers (Sunday/Wednesday) or and Lebanese musicians to compliment the Lebanese cuisine
  • Downstairs at the Middle East, a 575 person capacity concert space that has hosted many better-known, national artists.

[edit] Musicians

In addition to those artists mentioned above, a partial list of musicians who have played at The Middle East includes:

[edit] Recordings

There have been several live recordings at the Middle East Downstairs including Live at the Middle East, Mr. Lif Live at the Middle East, and Bosstones Live from the Middle East.

[edit] Collaborations

Since at least 2000, the Middle East has been host to the WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble, a well-publicized "battle of the bands" more than three decades old. The Middle East is also a prominent participant at the Cambridge River Festival, an annual musical and cultural event along the banks of the Charles River between Central and Harvard Square.[5]

[edit] Miscellaneous

In April of 1999, officials of the city of Cambridge pressured owners of The Middle East nightclub to cancel a booked Church of the SubGenius performance because of a mistaken belief that the organizers were affiliated with the Trenchcoat Mafia (an organization which was accused of being responsible for the Columbine High School massacre). [6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c The Middle East
  2. ^ The Boston Globe at Boston.com
  3. ^ Rolling Stone July 9, 1999
  4. ^ Perry N. Finley Foundation Ltd.
  5. ^ Cambridge Arts Council
  6. ^ Cambridge Chronicle

[edit] External link

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Middle_East_%28nightclub%29_568f.html"