Fri. Nov. 23

They call this day "Black Friday," because supposedly this is when many retailers turn the profit corner. I think of it as "Black Friday," because it makes me think of a mall crammed with zombie-like "Dawn of the Dead" shoppers, and this is not a place I want to be. Roger Miller - guitarist of Mission of Burma and keyboardist for the Alloy Orchestra (among other things) - has a solution: Join him at the Middle East Corner from 5-8 p.m Friday Nov. 23 for a music and dance shows that is a benefit for Tibet. Hope Roth and various Tibetan dancers will perform early, and Miller hit's the stage, solo (guitar and voice) at 6:45. Repetoire: "Some Burma songs, some unrecorded songs, covers from the psychedelic and punk eras." That whet our appetite so we asked Miller for more detail. He emailed back: "These solo guitar/voice shows, I don't do the looping that I did in Elemental guitar, but I still have a couple of effects which, combined with my bad attitude, are bound to produce some unorthodox sounds within a "song" context.  I'm hoping to do Television's first single, 'Little Johnny Jewel,' as well as the Kinks' 'I'm Not Like Everybody Else' (a totally great crackup!).  As far as Burma songs, no "big hits" or anything, but I think I'll do 'Max Ernst's Dream,' maybe 'Invisible' - songs not heard so much at Burma shows. Then there is 'Big Steam.' a blues song I wrote with prepared guitar (a fork stuck between the strings). The lyrics are all from a dream (10 years ago?).  Then maybe a couple unrecorded Burma tunes, to help them sink in for me.  I've performed like this a few times, and don't mind it. I did a 2-set show in Berekely a few years back, and people seemed to really dig it." Suggested donation: $5.

472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 www.mideastclub.com