July 1991 calendar listings flyer for Cambridge, MA rock club The Middle East.
Yesterday I talked about all the amazing shows I saw at T.T. the Bear’s in July 1991. But just around the corner that same month, a newer rock club called The Middle East was really starting to find its footing.
While they’d soon embark upon a number of physical expansions that enabled them to uplevel their bookings to bigger national and international acts, The Middle East at this time consisted of just the upstairs room and the bakery area. And it provided an excellent home for shows by local artists, such as favorites the Gigolo Aunts and the Dambuilders, and Roger Miller of Mission of Burma this particular month.
But here on July 24th was the clear indie pop event of the summer for me: Sarah Records band Heavenly, all the way from the UK on what I believe was their first tour of the U.S., plus locals Swirlies and Small Factory from nearby Providence, RI. (Contrary to what the flyer states, Velvet Crush did not play that night.)
I was there to see Heavenly and wasn’t familiar with either of the two opening acts. Swirlies were up first: noisy and kind of shambolic, but melodic. Good stuff. Next were Small Factory, who were the surprise delight of the evening, all earnestness and energy and damn good pop tunes. And Heavenly more than lived up their record, Heavenly vs. Satan, which I’d bought at Newbury Comics earlier that year and listened to over and over again in anticipation.
While I sadly had to depart before the end of Heavenly’s set—my friend and ride back to the suburbs decided she’d had enough—I was shocked and delighted upon discovering last year that videos of every band’s set that night were on YouTube: Swirlies, Small Factory and Heavenly. It’s a little dizzying to be able to, in a way, experience some of that night all over again. Dave from Small Factory is breaking his guitar string again, while bandmate Alex fills the time by grabbing a newspaper and reading out horoscopes by request. And I’m grinning ear-to-ear.
