ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 20, 1997 By Steve Newton Last Sunday night (March 16) I had three pretty good reasons for not wanting to drag my butt off a comfy couch and head downtown in the rain to review a rock show at the Rage. First off, I was tuckered out after … Continue reading Josh Homme’s grinding overdrive helps Screaming Trees wake up Vancouver on a Sunday night
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 19, 1997 By Steve Newton In conversation, blues legend Otis Rush comes across like one of his classic guitar solos: direct and to the point. He’s no fancy talker, but he gets to the heart of the matter. When I track the 62-year-old musician down at his home in Chicago, and … Continue reading Chicago blues legend Otis Rush still gets around: “It’s a job, you know, and I got to work.”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 26, 1993 By Steve Newton It was the clash of the American rock titans last Sunday (August 22) at the Coliseum, and after Big Bad Bobby D. took on Carlos “The Fret Strangler” Santana in a four-hour, 15-man battle royal, only one man remained standing as a certified rock champ of … Continue reading Carlos Santana cleans Bob Dylan’s clock in the clash of the Yankee rock titans
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 30, 1994 By Steve Newton As streams of perked-up Pink Floyd fans strolled north across the Cambie Street bridge en route to the big white marshmallow of B.C. Place last Saturday (June 25), a lot of them were eyeing the sky. It was a fine time to revel … Continue reading Pink Floyd plays Vancouver on the Division Bell tour, David Gilmour’s state-of-the-art guitars shine
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 26, 1993 By Steve Newton I remember, back in the mid-’70s, picking up a secondhand copy of Grand Funk’s Shinin’ On. It wasn’t a very good album—I think it included the band’s hit remake of “Locomotion”, which I still can’t stand—but it had a 3-D cover, and when you viewed it … Continue reading 3-D cover art enhances Voivod’s otherwordly themes on The Outer Limits
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 2, 1992 By Steve Newton If you were a fan of southern rock back in the days of vinyl, chances are you owned a couple of discs with the Capricorn label on them. With an early ’70s roster that included the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, Elvin Bishop, … Continue reading Widespread Panic finds a home on Phil Walden’s resurrected Capricorn label
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 11, 1996 By Steve Newton It was such a scorcher last Sunday (July 7), I found it impossible to pull myself out of our plastic kids’ pool and get down to the Coliseum in time for the start of the Scorpions/Alice Cooper concert. I completely missed the 25-minute opening set by … Continue reading The Scorpions and Alice Cooper bring melodic ’70s-style hard-rock to Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 9, 1998 By Steve Newton After making the agonizing decision in 1996 to break up his world-famous Kiwi pop combo Crowded House, Neil Finn wasn’t exactly sure what to do next. An Aussie artist-musician friend of his suggested Finn try painting, so he spent two weeks at a beachside location doing … Continue reading Two years after saying goodbye to Crowded House, Neil Finn returns with solo debut
kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 11, 1995 By Steve Newton Some rock bands have a magical way of winning over a crowd straightaway, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are a prime example. I saw them do it back in ’78 at the Commodore on the You’re Gonna Get It tour, and they … Continue reading Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers leave Vancouver reeling with a two-hour barrage of cannonball rock
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 20, 1993 By Steve Newton In the liner notes to the new Blues Traveler release, Save His Soul, John Popper is credited with “vocals, harmonica, Irish whistle, acoustic 12-string, electric guitar, 12-gauge shotgun, and 9-mm pistol”. Now, I didn’t see any shotguns or pistols at the Commodore last Thursday (May 13), but … Continue reading Blues Traveler’s wheelchair-bound John Popper displays weapons and wicked harmonica in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 28, 1995 By Steve Newton Although I’ve never been there, I always pictured New Orleans as a carefree, laid-back location, where the relaxed residents would happily welcome visitors into a fantasyland of down-home music, to-die-for food, and endless celebration. But in a chat with Blind Melon bassist Brad … Continue reading Blind Melon makes Soup in New Orleans but the Big Easy is “evil on a lot of levels”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 27, 1998 By Steve Newton If there’s one thing you can bet on about a Metallica concert, it’s that Lars Ulrich will not pussyfoot around behind his drum kit. The diminutive Dane always plays like a man possessed, fiercely punishing the skins while his face contorts in a tortured grimace. He’s … Continue reading Lars Ulrich cuddles firstborn, doubts fatherhood will make Metallica wimp out
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 8, 1994 By Steve Newton With all the frenzied media attention and intense public speculation surrounding the O.J. Simpson case, it’s hard to keep a fair handle on the whole sordid affair. Even such trusted news sources as A Current Affair and the National Enquirer have gotten caught up in the circus. So who do … Continue reading David Lee Roth says he doesn’t regret leaving Van Halen
