By Steve Newton Yesterday Aerosmith announced its farewell tour, a five-month jaunt beginning September 2 in Philadelphia and winding up January 26 in Montreal. Unfortunately, they didn’t bother to pencil in a date for Vancouver–the city that was instrumental to their huge comeback success in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The band recorded three … Continue reading Aerosmith snubs Vancouver with farewell tour announcement
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 13, 1993 By Steve Newton Vancouverites may wonder what it is about this town that makes a big-time Yankee rock band like Aerosmith want to come all the way from Boston to make records here. It is the scenery? The night-life? The days when it doesn’t rain? When Joe Perry calls … Continue reading Joe Perry credits Bruce Fairbairn and Little Mountain Sound with aiding Aerosmith’s rebirth
By Steve Newton Over the past 40 years or so I’ve seen hella concerts in the Vancouver area, either at clubs, soft-seat theatres, arenas, or stadiums. But I’ve also enjoyed the odd memorable gig outside Metro Vancouver. Back in the mid-’80s I was fortunate enough to see both Midnight Oil and Angel City play club … Continue reading That time I told Jeff Beck that the first time I ever saw him was with Aerosmith on the Rocks Tour in ’76
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 5, 2006 By Steve Newton The shrink-wrap sticker boasts that the new Aerosmith CD includes live versions, recorded at Las Vegas’s Hard Rock Hotel, of “No More No More”, “Seasons of Wither”, and “Draw the Line”. Now, if you’re a fan of the quintet’s earliest (i.e., best) work, … Continue reading Album review: Aerosmith, Rockin’ the Joint (2005)
By Steve Newton The first time I interviewed Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton was back in 1983, during the period when Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were out of the band, and the group was touring behind its Rock in a Hard Place album. The second time we chatted was when the original lineup had been … Continue reading That time Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton told me that he smoked a big bone right before thinking up the bass lick for “Sweet Emotion”
By Steve Newton I’ve interviewed Joe Perry four times so far, ’cause back when I was teenager in the ’70s, Aerosmith ruled. I went crazy for albums like Get Your Wings, Rocks, and Draw the Line. Our last chat was in September of 2010, which was long after I’d grown disenchanted with Aerosmith albums, which … Continue reading That time Joe Perry told me that Aerosmith’s best album, it’s Exile on Main Street, was yet to come
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 7, 2010 By Steve Newton A minute-and-a-half into “We’ve Got a Long Way to Go”, the opening track on Joe Perry’s new solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel, the rock legend from Boston reminds you just what it was about his playing that hooked you in the first … Continue reading Album review: Joe Perry, Have Guitar, Will Travel (2009)
By Steve Newton Sometimes you forget things you did back in the nineties. When I was digitizing my 1993 interview with Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry so I could post it on my Patreon page today, I realized I’d done something I’d never done before (or since) when talking to rockers. I let somebody else answer the … Continue reading That time Joe Perry called and I let my friend answer it ’cause she was a big Aerosmith fan with a crush
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 10, 1989 By Steve Newton It was an ear-shattering ol’ time down at the Metro Tuesday night. Volume maniacs were in their glory, along with those people who don’t enjoy talking while the band’s on. No one would have heard them anyway–Oakland’s Babylon A.D. made sure of that. A new hard-rock … Continue reading Newcomers Babylon A.D. bring ear-splitting hard rock from the land of Metallica
By Steve Newton On January 24, 1995, Van Halen released Balance, its 10th studio album and the last of the four that featured Sammy Hagar on lead vocals. The LP–which hit #1 on the Billboard chart and sold over three-million copies in the U.S. alone–was produced by Vancouver’s Bruce Fairbairn, who had previously helmed multiplatinum … Continue reading That time Alex Van Halen told me why his band chose “incredible guy” Bruce Fairbairn to produce Balance
By Steve Newton Back in September of 1989 I did my third interview with shock-rock legend Alice Cooper. The Coop was promoting his latest album, Trash, a star-studded affair that included guest appearances by Jon Bon Jovi, Steve Lukather, Kip Winger, Richie Sambora, and four of the guys from Aerosmith. At one point in the … Continue reading That time I asked Alice Cooper if he had a personal fave tune on his new album, Trash
By Steve Newton When I interviewed Alex Van Halen on the phone from Boston back in August of 1995, Van Halen was touring behind its latest album, Balance, which hit #1 on the Billboard chart and sold more than three million copies in the U.S. alone. Balance had been produced by big-shot Vancouver knob-twiddler Bruce … Continue reading That time Alex Van Halen told me that his band switched producers in ’94 because they didn’t want to make For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Part 2
DJ & Eddie VH By Steve Newton Brother Cane singer-guitarist Damon Johnson called me up from Chicago back on April 26, 1995, five days after his band had opened for Van Halen at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. The group would play another 20 or so gigs with Eddie and the boys that year, … Continue reading That time I asked 30-year-old Brother Cane frontman Damon Johnson if, being from Alabama, he was a Skynyrd fan
