Brian Wright

Musician

Brian Wright 1: In the late eighties, Central Square started becoming a more cool place, more of a destination, largely because of The Middle East. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Billy Ruane, may he rest in peace. Not that he did anything in peace, may he rest in complete manic chaos. You could always see the people who had never seen him before, because they’d be like “Who’s that crazy guy? Doesn’t anyone else notice this crazy guy jumping all around?” He had a party and it outgrew TT’s, so rather than cut back on the amount of bands playing he just decided to move next door as well. He talked Joseph and Nabil into renting out their back room for a show, which then I think was only used for functions and Middle Eastern music, belly dancing and stuff like that. That was when it started, maybe eighty-eight.