ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 12, 1988 By Steve Newton Old Diamond Dave had his hands full surpassing his 1986 LP Eat ‘Em and Smile, but with this new one, Skyscraper, he’s certainly done just that. In his first endeavour as producer Roth has come up with a brilliantly played and varied hard-rock album that should turn … Continue reading Album review: David Lee Roth, Skyscraper (1988)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 20, 1995 By Steve Newton Canadian guitar-rock heroes the Tragically Hip took all of Vancouver by surprise on July 12 when they announced a last-minute concert that night at the wee Railway Club (capacity 176). When word went out over local rock station 99.3 the Fox that 75 wristbands for the … Continue reading The Tragically Hip causes traffic havoc before getting messy with a surprise gig at Vancouver’s wee Railway Club
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 26, 2016 By Steve Newton I was a rock-crazed 17-year-old when the first Rush album came out in 1974, so of course I became an instant fan. And that was even before they latched on to the wildest drummer this side of Keith Moon. Paul Rudd was only four years … Continue reading Rush | Time Stand Still is all about devotion
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 22, 1983 By Steve Newton Gary Moore is an astounding rock guitarist, capable of wrenching the most scintillating and unique licks imaginable from six strings. His brief stints with Colosseum II and Thin Lizzy showed him to be a versatile and technically superior player, and on Corridors of … Continue reading Album review: Gary Moore, Corridors of Power (1983)
@shotbykevin ORIGINAL PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUGUST 15, 1991 By Steve Newton Men Without Hats immortalized the idea “You can dance if you want to.” I dunno—sometimes I just can’t dance. But I was a regular dancin’ fool at the Commodore last Friday (August 9), and the decision to get up there and make … Continue reading The rootsy gut-bucket boogie of the Paladins gets a boost from Dave Alvin in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 29, 1988 By Steve Newton Prior to Aerosmith‘s local appearance last week, I’d seen the Boston band in concert three times, including a show on the massive Rocks tour that saw them headlining over Jeff Beck at the Kingdome in Seattle. Each time before, they had performed more raggedly than singer Steven … Continue reading Aerosmith is reborn as a killer live act on the Permanent Vacation tour
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 11, 1982 By Steve Newton Extraterrestrial Live is Blue Öyster Cult’s third, and best, live album. The weak production and muddled performances on 1975’s On Your Feet Or on Your Knees and the rush job “this will keep them going till our next studio album” impression of 1978’s … Continue reading Album review: Blue Öyster Cult, Extraterrestrial Live (1982)
texastengu photo By Steve Newton When you see a promotional image of Warren Haynes, or an in-concert shot, the American guitar legend is almost always clutching a Les Paul. So I was kinda surprised to see that on the most recent Gov’t Mule album, Revolution Come…Revolution Go, there’s a photo of him in the CD … Continue reading Guitar legend Warren Haynes admits he’s “a Gibson guy”, but still likes to play a Fender now and then
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 29, 1983 By Steve Newton One of the biggest disappointments in hard rock this year is the news that Thin Lizzy–after 14 years and many fine, albeit underrated albums–is calling it quits. Ever since 1974’s magical Vagabonds of the Western World, Phil Lynott and Co. have been churning … Continue reading Album review: Thin Lizzy, Thunder and Lightning (1983)
kirk west photo By Steve Newton I love talking to Warren Haynes. Apart from being one of my fave guitarists, he’s just such a cool, cool guy. I did my sixth interview with Haynes in 2017, when Gov’t Mule was playing a show at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre. At one point in the interview I had … Continue reading Warren Haynes says that playing guitar with Derek Trucks comes naturally, “like drinkin’ water”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 12, 1995 By Steve Newton While Tom Cochrane’s last album, Mad Mad World, spawned his biggest hit ever in the undisputably catchy “Life Is a Highway”, it was far from one of his best recordings overall. It included some pretty weak tunes—the worst being the ponderous title … Continue reading Album review: Tom Cochrane, Ragged Ass Road (1995)
By Steve Newton Gary Moore has been one of my fave guitarists ever since I heard him with Thin Lizzy back in the seventies. I then closely followed his hard-rock/metal solo career in the ’80s, before he got the blues bigtime in 1990. I was fortunate enough to have interviewed the legendary picker once, back in … Continue reading That time Gary Moore told me how he scored Peter Green’s ’59 Les Paul
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 24, 1983 By Steve Newton Former Uriah Heep keyboardist Ken Hensley has become the fifth Blackfoot member on their fourth studio album, Siogo. While I was a little worried that the overpowering organ sound he’d often wielded in his former band might drown out the gritty guitars of Rickey … Continue reading Album review: Blackfoot, Siogo (1983)
