Newt’s top 10 Vancouver concerts to check out in February 2026

Vancouver rock 'n' roll legend Rich Hope plays the Rickshaw Theatre on February 20, with guests Janky Bungag and Runner.

Phantom Planet frontman Alex Greenwald has been getting back into metal lately

"I used to listen to metal as a teenager, and I felt like revisiting it, in particular Slayer. That first Slayer record is really good."

When I call Adam Renshaw up the drummer for the Forty-Fives is cruising through Sacramento in his band's van, enjoying a game of Scrabble.

Back in the summer of 1986 I traveled to Australia and happened to see Midnight Oil kicking butt at a Melbourne-area pub called Fosters.

Directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky spent the better part of three years working on the documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.

I interviewed Steve Vai back in September of 2003, when he was about to start a G3 Tour with Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen.

I did my third interview with American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist Robben Ford back in January of 2003.

Last August I lost a longtime friend, Scott Vye, who I'd spent decades going to concerts with in the Metro Vancouver area.

I did my second interview with James Hetfield on March 11, 2004, when Metallica was touring behind its much-maligned St. Anger album.

Thirty-five years ago today Canadian rock legends Bachman-Turner Overdrive played a New Year's Eve gig at Vancouver's 86 Street Music Hall.

From the looks of things, 2026 is gonna be a pretty rockin' year, whether in Vancouver's clubs, soft-seaters, or the big ol stadium.

Die-hard instro-rock fans—the type who worship at the altars of Duane Eddy and the Ventures—have it pretty rough these days.

If you've been following this blog of mine for any length of time you've probably figured out that its main focus is on guitar.