By Steve Newton As you may have already heard, the hard-rock world has lost one of its most beloved artists. AC/DC rhythm-guitarist Malcolm Young has passed away at the age […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 11, 2000 By Steve Newton It’s hard to believe that the scruffy Aussie hooligans who blessed rock music with the blues-metal masterwork […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 11, 1990 By Steve Newton Has AC/DC ever put out a bad record? I doubt it. But their efforts haven’t all been […]
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 […]
By Steve Newton When I interviewed some of the guys from AC/DC back in ’83, on the eve of the Flick of the Switch tour, I asked them which groups […]
By Steve Newton When I interviewed Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson at their Vancouver hotel room in 1983 it was less than two months since the release of AC/DC’s eighth internationally released […]
By Steve Newton I love listening to these old soundbites of me hangin’ out with AC/DC‘s Angus Young and Brian Johnson at a Vancouver hotel room, sippin’ tea and chattin’ […]
By Steve Newton When I interviewed AC/DC‘s Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson back in 1983 I asked Malcolm if he ever had a hankering to step out and play a […]
By Steve Newton I guess one of the cooler in-person interviews I’ve ever done was that time back in October of ’83 when I hung out with three members of […]
By Steve Newton Back in ’83 when I interviewed AC/DC at a Vancouver hotel before the start of the Flick of the Switch tour I asked Malcolm Young whether Angus, […]
By Steve Newton The biggest news in the rock world recently has revolved around AC/DC having to hire Axl Rose to take the place of Brian Johnson for the remainder of […]
By Steve Newton I was interviewing Todd Kerns a few days ago in advance of his gig with the Age of Electric in Vancouver next weekend, and naturally–since he’s the […]
By Steve Newton Yesterday I posted a blog claiming that AC/DC had “f***ed up” by making Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose their singer instead of Aussie rock legend (and […]
By Steve Newton By now the rock world is fully abuzz with the official announcement from AC/DC that Axl Rose from Guns N’ Roses will be the new singer for […]
By Steve Newton Holy fvck is Angus Young tiny! Hey, sorry about that outburst. It’s just that whenever I spy this backstage snap from 2001 I can’t help but […]
mila geran photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 22, 1985 By Steve Newton “Excuse me women…I mean ladies,” said Nikki Sixx as he pushed through the hordes of […]
By Steve Newton A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Rob Halford in advance of Judas Priest‘s doubleheader at the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver October 27 and 28. When I […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 21, 1990 By Steve Newton Halifax, Nova Scotia: Could those three words possibly conjure up images of a city full of alluring possibilities […]
AC/DC Rock or Bust With the help of Langley’s Mike Fraser as engineer and mixer, the Australian hard-rock icons create a fitting follow-up to 2008’s hugely successful Black Ice album. Its first-ever […]
The first time he ever saw AC/DC, Mike Fraser had no idea what band he was seeing. He’d gone to an Aerosmith show at the Pacific Coliseum back in ’78 […]
Today is the big day for AC/DC fans, when the Aussie blues-metal legends release their new album Rock or Bust. The band has been making a lot of headlines in the […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 26, 2001 By Steve Newton There are three things that are inevitable in this world: death, taxes, and a ringing in your ears […]
The new AC/DC album, Rock or Bust, hits stores tomorrow, boasting 11 songs crammed into 35 minutes. Maybe your all-time favourite AC/DC tune will be among them. Maybe not. It’s pretty […]
The anticipation surrounding the impending release of the new AC/DC album, Rock or Bust, has been building for months. The fact that it’s the legendary Aussie hard-rockers’ first release without […]
Today I got a call from Langley’s own Mike Fraser, who engineered and mixed the new AC/DC album, Rock or Bust, which is currently streaming on iTunes and hits stores this Tuesday […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 19, 2001 By Steve Newton The members of AC/DC aren’t doing any interviews in advance of their two shows at the Pacific Coliseum […]
Yesterday AC/DC released the song titles for its highly anticipated new album, and by all accounts the Aussie blues-metal legends will continue to rock. It’s right there in the titles: […]
Blues-metal legends AC/DC announced today that they will release a new album, titled Rock or Bust, on December 2. The 11-track disc was recorded right here in Vancouver last spring, with […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 11, 1997 By Steve Newton My reviewer’s copy of the long-overdue AC/DC box set was labelled with a warning that it was not […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 15, 1996 By Steve Newton I’ve been going to AC/DC concerts for almost 20 years now—which either gives me bragging rights or is […]
photo by Rebecca Blissett There’s been a lot of rumour and speculation flying around the music world in the last few days regarding the status of legendary Aussie earbusters AC/DC. […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 17, 1991 So what’s a devoted rock critic to do when one of the genre’s most potent acts hits town for two back-to-back, […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 16, 2010 By Steve Newton In advance of the May 7 release of the superhero action sequel Iron Man 2 comes a collection that’s sure […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MAY 26, 2005 By Steve Newton Some AC/DC fans feel that the band never recovered from the death of original vocalist Bon Scott; others argue that […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MAY 10, 2011 By Steve Newton Local AC/DC fans whose hearing has finally returned after the Aussie earbusters’ November 2008 show at GM Place might want to […]
Twenty-five years ago tomorrow–on February 24, 1989–Cheap Trick played Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum on a bill with Eddie Money, so, obviously, I went. Even with Eddie Money on the bill. Here’s […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 28, 1983 By Steve Newton The day before their October 11 concert at the Pacific Coliseum I journeyed downtown to the posh Four […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 29, 2008 Three seconds after I picked up my AC/DC tickets at GM Place on Friday (November 28), some dude waving a huge wad of […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 15, 1988 By Steve Newton “If you grew up in the ’70s you liked Aerosmith.” That’s what R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck wrote in […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 11, 1987 By Steve Newton They say that rock ‘n’ roll is a young man’s game, although the number of aging rock stars raking […]
chris cameron photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 18, 1987 By Steve Newton Like most Aussie rock ‘n’ roll bands, Pseudo Echo shuns the fancy costume/big hairdo approach on […]
chris cameron photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 23, 1987 By Steve Newton A healthy-sized crowd of 12,000 packed the Pacific Coliseum last Friday (October 16) for a Motley Crue […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 26, 1991 By Steve Newton It can be a long wait between AC/DC albums, so easily-pleased fans of gritty, bastardized blues might […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 29, 1990 By Steve Newton Playing the rock critic game can be tough, especially when you have to give the thumbs-down to bands […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 19, 1990 By Steve Newton Just last month the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band (or one of ’em, anyway) was locked away […]
Aerosmith: Honkin’ on Bobo (2004) Eric Clapton: Me and Mr. Johnson (2004) Jimi Hendrix: Axis Outtakes (2003) ZZ Top: Mescalero (2003) Nickelback: The Long Road (2003) Joe Jackson Band: Volume […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 25, 1987 By Steve Newton No-frills rock ‘n’ roll is something that’s always been close to this scribbler’s heart. From the basic guitar/bass/drums sound […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 18, 1987 By Steve Newton Some guys just don’t know when to leave well enough alone. Stephen King just wasn’t satisfied with the […]
photo by the Newt By Steve Newton I wasn’t that excited about going to see Guns N’ Roses at BC Place last night, mainly because I wasn’t sure if they […]
By Steve Newton One of my alltime fave Canadian bands, the Age of Electric, is playing Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom tomorrow (March 24). They played the Commodore 11 months ago as […]
