By Steve Newton The choice of #1 was a no-brainer for me, but the other 19 picks were trickier. Up the Irons! 20. “Running Free” (Iron Maiden, 1980) 19. “Purgatory” (Killers, 1981) 18. “Speed of Light” (The Book of Souls, 2015) 17. “Wrathchild” (Killers, 1981) 16. “The Wicker Man” (Brave New World, 2000) 15. “Flight … Continue reading Iron Maiden’s 20 best songs, from wicked to freakin’ awesome
iron maiden facebook photos By Steve Newton Way back on June 29, 1983, Iron Maiden played Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum, backed up by fellow British metal acts Saxon and Fastway. Maiden was touring behind its fourth album, Piece of Mind, so its set was peppered with songs from that LP–including “The Trooper”, which I recently voted … Continue reading 40 years after playing Vancouver on the World Piece Tour, Iron Maiden still brings the metal mastery
By Steve Newton I don’t get out to that many rock concerts these days, mainly ’cause I’m an old fogie living out in the ‘burbs and most of my concert-going buddies have either passed away (like Ferg) or moved back to Alberta (like the guys from Mad Duck). But my nephew Jeff offered to take … Continue reading 10 minutes on the phone with Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson in 1983
By Steve Newton Way back in June of 1983 I did my second Iron Maiden interview, following up the previous year’s chat with the soon-to-be-replaced drummer Clive Burr with a conversation featuring 24-year-old frontman Bruce Dickinson. At one point in the interview I asked Dickinson about the backwards message that could be heard between the … Continue reading That time I asked Bruce Dickinson what the backwards message was on Maiden’s new Piece of Mind LP
Nita Strauss plays the Rickshaw By Steve Newton There were some darn fine concerts to see in Vancouver during the first half of 2023–including gigs by Jason Isbell, Larkin Poe, John Mellencamp, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Now here’s my top 10 picks for the second half of the year. Rock on, people! Nita … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 Vancouver concerts to see in the second half of 2023
By Steve Newton Over the last 40 years I’ve been fortunate enough to have done one-on-one interviews with four members of Iron Maiden: Clive Burr, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, and Bruce Dickinson. I interviewed Dickinson back in June of 1983, when Maiden was touring behind its fourth studio album, Piece of Mind, which had been … Continue reading That time I asked Bruce Dickinson what his favourite tune was on Iron Maiden’s new album Piece of Mind
By Steve Newton Forty years ago, around this time, I was livin’ the dream–if the dream was to be a journalist specializing in heavy metal. I’d recently found work as a freelance music writer/proofreader with the Georgia Straight, a weekly Vancouver newspaper. The cool thing was, within a span of six weeks, I got to … Continue reading Metal mayhem in the summer of ’82: scoring cover stories on Ozzy, Maiden, and Scorps
bev davies photo By Steve Newton The first time I interviewed Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson was back in June of 1983, when Maiden was touring behind its Piece of Mind album. I started the conversation by asking why the band had replaced drummer Clive Burr, who I’d interviewed in ’82 during the Number of … Continue reading That time I took my nephew backstage to meet Bruce Dickinson on Iron Maiden’s Powerslave tour and we all felt sad about Razzle
By Steve Newton I interviewed original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler back in August of 2011, the same year he appeared in Season 5 of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. At the time he was heading to Vancouver for a club show with his own band, Adler’s Appetite, performing originals and the tunes he … Continue reading That time Steven Adler told me that he wished he’d checked out Iron Maiden when Guns N’ Roses opened for them in the ’80s
By Steve Newton After ten years of my complaining about Link Wray not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the boneheads who run the high-falutin’ joint in Cleveland finally caved and decided to induct him, in the “musical influence” division. It’s about freakin’ time. Wray, who pretty well invented the raunchy guitar … Continue reading Rock Hall finally inducts Link Wray, can Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher be far behind?
Iron Maiden plays Rogers Arena By Steve Newton Iron Maiden: British heavy metal legends, featuring vocalist Bruce Dickinson, perform on their The Future Past Tour. October 2 at Rogers Arena. Here’s my interview with Bruce Dickinson from 1983. Coheed and Cambria: prog-metal quartet from New York, featuring guitarist-vocalist and main songwriter Claudio Sanchez, with guests Deafheaven. October 2 … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 (or 13) Metro Vancouver concerts in October
photo by the newt By Steve Newton It’s good to have hobbies. Several years ago I found a new hobby in which I’d spend a fair amount of time lobbying for the inclusion of Link Wray, Johnny Winter, and Rory Gallagher in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I was astonished and, frankly, disgusted … Continue reading One down, two to go: Newt’s Rock Hall will shutter once Johnny and Rory get inducted into the RRHOF
By Steve Newton Steve Vai is one of those guitarists where you watch him play and you’re like: “How the hell does he do that!?” This is the first interview I did with him, when he was only 29, touring with Whitesnake, and had just released his solo album Passion and Warfare. During the first … Continue reading 10 minutes on the phone with 29-year-old Steve Vai in 1990
