Greg Waters and The Broad Street Boogie

Greg Waters and the Broad Street Boogie Band Review Live at Mug Shot in De Pere, Wisconsin

By TJ
February 26, 2009
Bands this good are rarely ever seen from a few feet away, I personally felt a little lucky. While Greg Waters and the Broad Street Boogie have a very well planted stake in the Green Bay and Fox Valley music scene. I consider that the stars may have been lined up tonight for myself, Mug Shots of De Pere, Greg Waters, his Broad Street Boogie and of course the patrons at Mug Shots, which were very hip and plentiful. Greg Waters and the Broad Street Boogie had Mug Shots packed, and it took a bit of effort to jockey my way to the front of the stage to view the show. They started the second set of with "Black Water" by the Doobie Brothers. It was obvious to me by reaction of the hip patrons that my father was not the only parent in the world playing the Doobie Bros to their kids back in the day. From that point on it lifted from the soil. You no longer had to put your ear to the ground to hear the roots of the music, Greg Waters was digging them straight up for us tonight!

I would classify them as extremely rhythmic Rock and Roll. While it would be way to easy to label this band as a roots band, I decided to look the word "Boogie" up in the dictionary; it helped. Greg is so animated and emotional that when he plays guitar and sings, often he is performing with his eyes closed in his own little world and then awakening and connecting. Still warming up the bar they laid into Bob Marley and the Wailers "Soul Shake Down Party" where good friend and reggae star "Diamond" performed a dub freestyle over the extended jam. Mike Underwood's drums have a syncopation that is so sick, twisted, and fluent. Especially on this song Mike's mind speaks directly to his limbs, and whatever he wishes to play, it is made so. So, it really helps him out that he is extremely rhythmically creative and also has the restraint and feel needed to keep everyone together! As the show went on Greg braces the crowd that they are going to play a few originals. This is when Sly Joe's keyboards came alive. Sly Joe was running with his keyboards into a wah wah pedal and switching from a funky clavinet to rotary style organ to ragstyle keys. A simply amazing combination with Danny Waters bringing out the glass slide on Fender Telecaster guitar and starts jamming leads to Mike Cool's bass handling the foundation. Greg Waters and the Broad Street Boogie have recently released the album "Disappear." It is available on iTunes and locally. Please visit www.gregwatersmusic.com for more info. Greg's Midwestern songs and three part harmonies are a huge part of the sound in this band. While the entire night was a promenade between originals and classics, one thing is for certain, Greg Waters has been, for the past 15 plus years, one of the greatest contributors to local music scene, and it has not gone unnoticed. If you're lucky, catch Greg Waters in Green Bay or the Valley, or catch a show from the bands other projects like: Sly Joe and the Smooth Operators, Jazz Orgy, Unity the Band, and The Water Bros and Casey Jones. Great show, and my friends tell me it went deep into the night!
More Photos and Music from TJ

More Green Bay Band Reviews