ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN EXPERIENCE HENDRIX MAGAZINE, WINTER 2000 By Steve Newton If you polled all the music fans in the world and asked them to name their fave party tune […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 21, 2000 By Steve Newton Anyone who’s ever raised a frosty Molson Pilsner to the bluesy riff-rock of Free or Bad Company would […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 28, 1997 By Steve Newton Back in the late ’60s, British blues-rock crooner Paul Rodgers wrapped his gravel ’n’ honey vocals around a […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 20, 1993 The first time I saw Paul Rodgers perform live was back in the ’70s, when Bad Company played the Pacific Coliseum […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 21, 1991 By Steve Newton Oh man—talk about going back in time! There was Ted Nugent riffing out “Cat Scratch Fever” and screeching […]
photo by Lucy Piller Legendary blues-rocker Paul Rodgers finally got to meet the son of Paul Kossoff, the former guitarist in his old band Free. In a tweet last week Rodgers mentioned […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 6, 2006 By Steve Newton Chilliwack was the perfect place for a rock-crazed teenager to grow up during the ’70s. Not only could you crank […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 20, 2006 What an awesome heavy-metal band Queen used to be. What, you didn’t know Queen used to be an awesome heavy-metal band? Maybe it’s […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 2, 1991 By Steve Newton After having had to sit through Bad (Sad?) Company’s recent Vancouver concert—and its empty, money-grubbing versions of that […]
By Steve Newton What do you get when you gather the lead singers from Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Free on stage at the same time? A pretty rockin’ version of […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 23, 1993 By Steve Newton Popular music hit an all-time low this year with the outbreak of something called gangsta rap, an ugly, […]
By Steve Newton The Rebel flag. The Southern Cross. Stars and Bars. Whatever you call it, the battle flag of America’s former Confederate states has been getting a lot of […]
By Steve Newton Journey has long been criticized for being one of the prime purveyors of “corporate rock”, along with the likes of Foreigner, Boston, Styx, and REO Speedwagon. But […]
By Steve Newton Twenty-five years ago tomorrow–on March 11, 1990–Robin Trower–who turned 70 yesterday!–made a rare appearance in Vancouver at the 86 Street Music Hall. I’d been a huge fan […]
By Steve Newton If you were type of rock fan in the ’70s who thought it was the end of the world when guitarist Mick Ralphs left Mott the Hoople–only […]
DBT photo by the Newt For me, it’s always a good year for concerts when the Drive-By Truckers can be included in the year-end wrap-up, and their performance at […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 8, 1989 By Steve Newton Seeing a destined-to-be-huge band in a small venue can make for one of the most memorable nights in […]
By Steve Newton Groundworks Marketing announced today that a new Paul McCartney tribute album will be released on November 17, and that it will feature some of my fave artists from […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 1997 By Steve Newton Those ’70s-rock fans sure are a devoted bunch. Even if one of their fave old bands hasn’t produced […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 21, 1997 By Steve Newton October 20, 1977, is a day branded by sadness for southern-rock fans. That’s when Lynyrd Skynyrd’s rented plane, […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 7, 1997 By Steve Newton Some guys have all the luck—and a fair whack of talent, too. Take Kenny Wayne Shepherd, for instance. […]
photos by “Jet” Sutherland ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JUNE 26, 2014 By Steve Newton Freddie Mercury is a hard act to follow, there’s no doubt about that. The Queen frontman […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 8, 1993 By Steve Newton Back in the ’60s, it is said, Jimi Hendrix was so inspired by Buddy Guy’s guitar-playing that he […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 24, 2005 By Steve Newton Last year, in celebration of the Fender Stratocaster’s 50th anniversary, an impressive array of electric guitarists got together at London’s […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEBRUARY 11, 1994 By Steve Newton Guns N’ Roses may well be the most popular hard-rock band in the world. It’s certainly one of […]
So, yeah, I’ve reviewed a few shows over the years. GUNS N’ ROSES at BC Place Stadium, Sept. 1, 2017 THE AGE OF ELECTRIC at the Commodore Ballroom, April 30, 2016 […]
Some of my interviews, arranged alphabetically, from AC/DC to ZZ Top AC/DC Malcolm Young & Brian Johnson, 1983 AEROSMITH Joe Perry, Sept. 2010 AEROSMITH Steven Tyler, 1997 AEROSMITH Joe Perry, 1997 […]
By Steve Newton This is one of my fave alltime backstage snapshots, courtesy longtime Georgia Straight concert photographer Kevin Statham. I was backstage at a 1991 Damn Yankees show at […]
