ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 13, 2006 WHEN MANVILS FRONTMAN Mike Manville and lead guitarist Mark Parry show up for an interview at the Georgia Straight, only one of them looks ready to rock. The woolly brown sweater Manville's chosen for the occasion doesn't seem stage-worthy, but-resplendent in a pinstriped blazer set off by a scarf … Continue reading Manvils hammer it home
Headbangers and pop idols alike get blown way by Queen and Paul Rodgers in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 20, 2006 By Steve Newton 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 not common knowledge. It guess it helps if you were a hard rock-crazed, Circus-reading teen back in '73 when the British quartet's self-titled … Continue reading Headbangers and pop idols alike get blown way by Queen and Paul Rodgers in Vancouver
Rob Zombie says the Allman Brothers are his favourite band
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 3, 2006 By Steve Newton Five years ago I covered the local shoot of Halloween: Resurrection for British horror mag Shivers. I spent several hours on set, and it was lotsa fun--especially when veteran makeup-FX artist Gary Tunnicliffe showed me how he could make giant animatronic rats squirm around in … Continue reading Rob Zombie says the Allman Brothers are his favourite band
Jackass: Number Two’s Johnny Knoxville no sissy
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 21, 2006 By Steve Newton HOLLYWOOD--Who's the better movie star: Humphrey Bogart because he embodied macho cool in Casablanca or Johnny Knoxville because he put on a red shirt and a blindfold and offered himself to a charging bull in Jackass: Number Two? Bogie may have been more deserving of … Continue reading Jackass: Number Two’s Johnny Knoxville no sissy
Jason “Wee Man” Acuña gets naked to promote Jackass: Number Two
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 14, 2006 By Steve Newton HOLLYWOOD--It's a poolside reception for Jackass: Number Two at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Various cast members--including Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Preston Lacy, and Jason “Wee Man” Acuña--are sitting around, getting quietly sloshed. Maybe a little too quietly for Knoxville's liking. The renowned … Continue reading Jason “Wee Man” Acuña gets naked to promote Jackass: Number Two
Gov’t Mule takes aim at the high and mighty
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 12, 2006 By Steve Newton Warren Haynes spends a large part of his time with a guitar in his hands; for more than a decade he's been doing double duty with southern-rock legends the Allman Brothers and blues-rock kings Gov't Mule. So it's no surprise that the musician is pictured … Continue reading Gov’t Mule takes aim at the high and mighty
James Blunt may be the long lost love child of Al Stewart
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 9, 2006 NOT MANY RECORDING artists get to headline a venue the size of GM Place with just one album under their belt, but only seven months after nearly selling out the 2,800-seat Orpheum Theatre, James Blunt packed several thousand more bodies into the Canucks’ home rink. Apparently, people can’t get … Continue reading James Blunt may be the long lost love child of Al Stewart
Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy broadens his solo scope
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 9, 2006 By Steve Newton When you think of Blue Rodeo frontmen Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, it’s easy to picture Cuddy as the Paul McCartney to Keelor’s John Lennon. Cuddy is best known as the sentimental crooner of the pretty hit ballad “Try”, whereas Keelor is most recognized as … Continue reading Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy broadens his solo scope
Blackie & the Rodeo Kings ebullient about a Band classic
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 22, 2006 By Steve Newton Like Brian Wilson used to do in his Beach Boys days, Colin Linden gets around. When the Straight catches him on his cellphone he’s just leaving a Calgary hotel with his fellow members of Blackie & the Rodeo Kings—Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing—for a … Continue reading Blackie & the Rodeo Kings ebullient about a Band classic
Rolling Stones give good bang for big-buck tickets
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 29, 2006 A lot has been made of the astronomical ticket prices the Rolling Stones charged on their recent stop in Vancouver, but considering today’s out-of-control construction costs (see 2010 Olympics), there’s some merit to their exorbitance. It looked as if the Stones’ 300-person production crew had built a five-storey … Continue reading Rolling Stones give good bang for big-buck tickets
Buddy Cage says it was easy filling Jerry Garcia’s shoes on pedal-steel in New Riders of the Purple Sage
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 29, 2006 By Steve Newton As the story goes, Jerry Garcia had only been experimenting on pedal-steel guitar for two weeks when he played it on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 1970 hit “Teach Your Children”. Garcia’s licks resulted in the most widely heard pedal-steel performance ever, but that doesn’t … Continue reading Buddy Cage says it was easy filling Jerry Garcia’s shoes on pedal-steel in New Riders of the Purple Sage
Aerosmith shows Mötley Crüe what rock’s all about
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 20, 2006 By Steve Newton It was billed as a coheadlining tour, but since when is Mötley Crüe equal in status to the mighty Aerosmith? I mean, come on! Aerosmith dropped more killer tunes on Get Your Wings than Motley Crue produced in its entire career! Yet for some strange reason … Continue reading Aerosmith shows Mötley Crüe what rock’s all about
Black Stone Cherry updates the glorious noise of Zeppelin, Skynyrd, and AC/DC on debut album
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 10, 2007 By Steve Newton When I call Black Stone Cherry drummer John Fred Young’s cellphone, he’s at a gas station in his hometown of Edmonton, a small town in south-central Kentucky. When the phone rings, John Fred is busy purchasing some bottled water, so his dad, Richard, picks up. That’s … Continue reading Black Stone Cherry updates the glorious noise of Zeppelin, Skynyrd, and AC/DC on debut album