ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 19, 1990 By Steve Newton On the honker from Montreal, Stevie Ray Vaughan is a tad disoriented. It’s 7:30 p.m. his time, but he’s still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I just woke up,” he explains. “Hope I’m not late. I looked at my watch and realized that I didn’t … Continue reading My interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan the month before his death
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 11, 1990 By Steve Newton Steve Earle’s got a headache—a real doozie. The whirlwind promotional tour that brought him to Vancouver’s Georgian Court Hotel has taken its toll, and while this scribbler waits in the lobby, Earle’s up in his room, downing aspirins to ease the pain brought on by countless … Continue reading Steve Earle on cops, bikers, jail, Ted Bundy, and The Hard Way
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 28, 1998 By Steve Newton If you’ve listened to rock radio at all in the past decade, you’ve heard Mike Fraser’s work. His mixing and engineering talents have graced such hugely popular recordings as Aerosmith’s Pump, Metallica’s Load, and Van Halen’s Balance. In the past few years, he’s branched out into … Continue reading Studio star Mike Fraser helps Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock put Vancouver on the musical map
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 7, 1990 By Steve Newton In rock guitar circles, Steve Vai is the type of personality that Entertainment Tonight might giddily term hot. Walk into any magazine shop, glance at the rock ’n’ roll section, and chances are you’ll see the handsome, raven-haired guitarist grinning wickedly from a cover or two, his … Continue reading Steve Vai talks Frank Zappa, dream states, blowjobs, and Passion & Warfare
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 7, 1991 By Steve Newton For the past two years, the presenter of the Juno award for Canadian Band of the Year has ripped open a sealed envelope and seen the same two words: Blue Rodeo. The powers that be at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences have twice … Continue reading Blue Rodeo wanted to make “a real pop record” with Casino
By Steve Newton On March 29, 1984, Billy Idol played the University of British Columbia’s War Memorial Gym. The 28-year-old Brit was touring behind his second solo album, Rebel Yell, which boasted the hit singles “Eyes Without a Face”, “Flesh for Fantasy”, “Catch My Fall”, and the title track. His videos were getting a shitload of … Continue reading Billy Idol on working with Tobe Hooper, getting on MTV, and showing off his Rebel Yell
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 27, 1990 By Steve Newton Gaye Delorme would have been a good choice for one of those old American Express commercials, where some faceless celebrity says, “Do you recognize me? Not many people do…” before his famous name pops up, imprinted on the credit card. Problem is, Gaye Delorme’s name isn’t … Continue reading My one and only interview with Canadian guitar great Gaye Delorme
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 11, 2010 By Steve Newton At one point during Roger Waters’s spectacular sold-out show at Rogers Arena last night (December 10) he pulled off what he called “an experiment in time travel”, playing in unison with a 1980 video of himself performing the ballad “Mother”. In actual fact, the entire … Continue reading Roger Waters delivers a prog-rock spectacle for the ages in Vancouver
photo by rebecca blissett ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 26, 2012 By Steve Newton Pretty well all of the world’s biggest pop and rock acts have played Vancouver since the ’60s. The Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, U2, Guns N’ Roses—our city has played host to … Continue reading Paul McCartney leaves Vancouver’s Beatles fans with little to complain about
By Steve Newton Most of the Halloweens I lived through in the nineties involved getting dressed up and going to house parties–usually the semi-rowdy ones I threw at the divey South Van house I rented for over a decade near Main & 58th. But on October 31, 1993, I had a concert to go to … Continue reading Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon pees on stage in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 5, 2008 By Steve Newton It’s been 17 years since the grunge revolution blasted full-throttle out of Seattle, but Chris Cornell remembers it well. As the frontman for Soundgarden, Cornell was a chief architect of the genre, which formed as a backlash to the stagnating commercial rock of the day. “At … Continue reading Chris Cornell on the rise of grunge and the job of the rock icon
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 6, 1984 By Steve Newton British supergroup Genesis–lead vocalist-drummer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist-bassist Mike Rutherford–will be appearing at the Pacific Coliseum this Monday, January 9. They will be joined in concert by touring members Daryl Stuermer on guitar and Chester Thompson on drums. I spoke to Rutherford over … Continue reading Mike Rutherford looks at his watch and says Genesis will probably make it through tonight’s show
By Steve Newton On December 20, 1993, Blind Melon played Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. It was a benefit for the Vancouver Food Bank as part of a plea deal stemming from charges against singer Shannon Hoon for an incident that occurred two months earlier when he’d gotten naked on stage and peed into the front row at … Continue reading Blind Melon plays Vancouver, Shannon Hoon holds his piss
