Greg Serrato

josh · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 3:38 am Post subject: Greg Serrato

I saw Greg Serrato last night at the Coachhouse in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

The first warm-up band was called the Gemtones. Very young 3-piece band. They are all related to each other. They were Zeppelin wanna-be's but with alot of noise. The lead guitar/singer has some skills but his notes were just all blurred and not very articulate. The Drummer had good tempo but he needs to learn about dynamics and new drum riffs. He was young as well. The best member of the band was the bass player. Of course, he was much older and experienced. oh yea, at the end, the drummer trashed the stage. *yawn*

The 2nd Warm-up band was called Plan B. Very tasty blues. Much easier to listen to. Pretty good drummer. They played some good stuff but didn't seem that they wanted to finesse anyone with solos. Solos were there but just conservative.

The 3rd...cant remember their names but they were NOT blues at all. Head-banging type of music which can be fine but not that nite. Drummer had a ridiculously overdone cymbal setup with a 6-7 piece pearl kit. He was a decent drummer but was no Terry Bozzio or Neil Peart by ANY means. The lead guitar player had some really good stuff except he was not very exciting to watch.

I didn't think that there were any really good blues bands out West until Serrato played. He plays his guitar Hendrix style (righthanded guitar, upside down, for a lefty). Some of the fastest hands and fingers I had ever seen! He played Along the Watchtower perfectly with some adlib. He played Stevie Ray Vaughn perfectly as well.

If he EVER comes your way...you HAVE to see him.

Rich · Guest

I was at the Greg Serrato show at the Coach House too. I totally agree with Josh. The openers were well........openers. Plan Bee was good in their own right and surely more of a convincing blues act. Peace Machine needs to go back to the drawing board and please turn down the volume. Although Greg's bass player had a little problem at the start, the rest of the set was frantic. This Serrato can whup up on most any so. cal blues guitar player. I had never seen him prior to the C.H. show and he was on fire! I agree with the fast hands and fingers comment. Unbelievable! I have never seen anyone so fluent in the use of the fret board in such a tasty way. I bought the live cd he was selling that night and that rocks. More people should check Serrato out. I'm a guitar player and his playing made me feel a bit feeble.