The Middle East (nightclub)

The Middle East is a live music and dining complex consisting of four adjacent venues in the Central Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its two dedicated concert spaces, Upstairs and Downstairs, sit alongside ZuZu and The Corner, two restaurant–bars which also host live music. Having featured a huge variety of musicians since 1987, the establishment, with its separate concert venues, "is the nexus of metro Boston's rock-club scene for local and touring bands", according to Boston Phoenix newspaper.HistoryThe Middle East opened as a Lebanese restaurant in 1970. In 1975 after brothers Joseph and Nabil Sater Habib purchased the establishment they expanded into a store front at 472 Massachusetts Avenue The brothers maintained the ethnic food and keeping in the theme of the restaurant they had Arab-language bands, music and belly dancers. The area is now known as The Middle East Upstairs. In the 1980s they booked blues and jazz music. It was not until 1987 that the first rock show was played by a solo Roger Miller of Mission of Burma fame.Later that year a birthday party was thrown by local music promoter Billy Ruane at T.T. the Bear's Place, a small rock club next door. Having overbooked T.T.'s, Ruane worked with the Sater brothers to have some of his party spill over to The Middle East and allow bands to play at their establishment. Ruane was quoted in 2007 by the Boston Phoenix saying to a 20th anniversary reunion crowd: "You remember what happened — I threw a fuckin' party that got too fuckin’ big".