An ATLien in Boston’s Middle East
There I was, a native Atlantan recently relocated to Boston to study music and writing, standing in a crowd of 200 plus people inside The House of Blues -- a venue that was eerily similar to Atlanta’s own Tabernacle -- when I had a revelation: For the past 10 years of my life, I had taken for granted the nonstop, never-questioned, raging energy of every show I had ever seen in the “ATL, Hoe.” HOB is a solid venue, but it wouldn't be until I stumbled into The Middle East Club two years later, to catch a friend's first opening gig for a headliner who wasn't even underground yet, that I would find anything close to what Atlanta offered me when it came to a live rap scene in Boston.
The Middle East Club hugs the entire street corner of 472 Massachusetts Avenue and was established in the early 70s by the two Sater Brothers. It quickly grew from an upscale Lebanese restaurant with live ethnic music to a five-part venue system that includes an upstairs stage, a downstairs stage, a nightclub, a bakery, and the original dining area.
The upstairs area is a decorative combination of dark crimson with metallic gold highlights, and features lesser-known artists on its stage. It safely holds 194 people, though the design and atmosphere are recognizably influenced by larger-sized venues -- a bar takes up the entire back wall, facing a stage that is the only platform in this boxed, pillar-lined room. It does not have a particularly massive sound setup, but it doesn't need one for such an intimate space. (And especially since it is located above and beside ZuZu, The Middle East's live-DJ and restaurant space; it wouldn’t want to compete for sonic range.)
The downstairs stage is reminiscent of what I imagine the dying punk scene must look like: All black everything -- from the platforms, to the painted cement floor, to the mounted speakers and scarce light beams. You would expect (and should prepare to experience) a hefty amount of moshing in this space -- but I'll get to that. This downstairs space is reserved for more nationally-known artists and as such, it can hold around 570 people; yet it feels even more intimate than the upstairs venue.
As I mentioned, I discovered The Middle East Club a year ago when I caught my friends’ opening set. They were given the opportunity to perform, simply by contacting the venue, inquiring if/when they had opening slots available, and then selling tickets -- which they were responsible for. Essentially it was as simple as making a reservation at a restaurant. This throwback dynamic of direct contact between the venue’s management and artists who don’t yet have notoriety or any representation is what makes The Middle East a prime spot to catch up-and-coming rappers before they even know they're on the rise. It’s one of those venues where artists will look back on their own career and say, “I had my first real show there." And that environment, that genuine energy, is what makes The Middle East the perfect place for an MC to test their ability at leading an audience through their music and performance.
In addition to Atlanta's capacity to turn up, the city is also a prime tour stop for just about ... everybody. There is hardly a weekend when a notable headliner isn’t playing a gig somewhere in Atlanta; Boston doesn’t have that same rate of visitation. So when any artist I know is headlining, opening, or just might show up for a feature in Boston, you best believe I get tickets as soon as they go on sale:10 a.m., Thursday mornings.
This was the case when I heard that Denzel Curry was playing at The Middle East Club with Compton-bred Boogie. I hadn't been to the Club’s downstairs venue before and wound up waiting in the wrong line, but after a quick adjustment, a confiscated lighter, and a pair of brass knuckles in my pocket that the bouncer luckily didn't notice, I was shoulder-to-shoulder with 400 other bodies who were ready to change my perspective of a Boston concert crowd. Mind you, I knew going into this that Curry was the "black metal terrorist" and that his flow basically incites violent head-banging, but I was still wary that any high-wave-energy would actually be transferred to him from the crowd, and vice versa.
BOY, WAS I EVER WRONG.
I can't tell you whether it was Curry and Boogie's performance, the crowd's response, the venue's temperature, or the pre-gaming everyone must have done, but no other Boston concert I had ever been to (or have been to since) was on par with this show. That includes two years of Chance The Rapper shows, two years of Mac Miller shows, an A$AP/Tyler/Vince tour, and half a dozen others. That night at The Middle East was THE HARDEST I had ever witnessed a crowd go (outside of Atlanta). At a venue where the ceiling is just 10 feet high, people were stage-diving and crowd-surfing. At a venue where we were enclosed by two cement walls, people orchestrated the red-rover of mosh pits. I was blown away, and the main reason for such an amazing performance-experience-connection was due to the environment that The Middle East Club has developed and perfected over the past 40 years.
Somewhere along the Sater's brothers’ journey, they stumbled onto something supremely beautiful; an idea that meets so many different aspirations and manages to blend them all seamlessly into this family-owned street corner restaurant and concert venue.
As Boston's House of Blues is to Atlanta's Tabernacle, The Middle East Club is equal to that of ATL’s late Masquerade. Where The Masquerade had three tiers and locations hosting different performances at any given time, The Middle East Club has two stages, a nightclub, a massive bar, and is dedicated to the mission of marketing nationally-known headliners as well as promoting lesser-known opening acts who are taking their first steps along the same path. This is what makes venues like The Middle East so important and influential to the music scene as a whole; their respect, love and eagerness to leverage their platform to propel artists forward in their careers.
I left Denzel and Boogie's concert sweaty, bruised and already contemplating the next time I will get to take part in a show with as much energy and passion as I felt at The Middle East that night.