ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 3, 1997 By Steve Newton Multitudes of new rock acts release their debut albums every year, but only a small percentage of them garner extensive airplay or achieve major sales figures. So it helps if a baby band gets a hand from a capable producer its first time out. Orlando, Florida’s … Continue reading Infant death and screwing up inspire Rob Thomas on Matchbox 20’s debut
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
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 12, 1998 By Steve Newton During a recent interview with famed local rock producer Bruce Fairbairn, I asked him if he’d heard any current albums that had blown him away, production-wise. It only took him a couple of seconds to come up with Heated, the latest CD from Toronto blues-rockers Big … Continue reading Gordie Johnson draws inspiration from Eddie Kramer and kudos from Bruce Fairbairn for Big Sugar’s Heated
charles campbell photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 25, 1987 By Steve Newton Texas is famous for a few things. Lonestar beer. Redneck sheriffs. The Dallas Cowboys. It’s also famous for an albino guitarist named Johnny Winter, who grew up in Beaumont, Texas, with a keyboard whiz brother named Edgar. When Johnny was just 15, the two … Continue reading Johnny Winter’s lightning-fast licks prove that he’s still alive and well in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 28, 1997 By Steve Newton Back in the late ’60s, British blues-rock crooner Paul Rodgers wrapped his gravel ’n’ honey vocals around a simple, bludgeoning Paul Kossoff guitar riff and rock history was made. Twenty-seven years after its release, Free’s “All Right Now” has joined an elite club of records to … Continue reading For Paul Rodgers, everything stems from playing live
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 3, 1997 By Steve Newton The last time I tuned in to Bruce Allen’s Soundoff show on CFOX, I caught the loudmouthed rock mogul in one of his favourite on-air acts: slagging the Tragically Hip. The band had just released its live album, Live Between Us, and Allen was reveling in … Continue reading Bruce Allen’s anti-Hip rants can’t tarnish Canada’s best band
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 22, 1999 By Steve Newton “Kick him in the throat!” isn’t quite the phrase you expect to hear from a guy who’s just exchanged wedding vows, but that’s what my brother-in-law Cam was yelling scant hours after tying the knot on a beach in Powell River last month. … Continue reading Growing up in Buffalo, the Goo Goo Dolls are almost Canadian
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 30, 1997 By Steve Newton At the climax of Aerosmith’s two-hour-plus concert at the Coliseum last Saturday (October 25), muscular skin-basher Joey Kramer emerged from behind his rotating drum kit, trotted to the front of the stage, and jubilantly hurled one of his drumsticks into the roaring, near-capacity … Continue reading That time at Aerosmith in Vancouver when Joey Kramer’s hallowed drumstick got snatched away
mike chernoff photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 18, 1999 By Steve Newton I’ve always been mightily impressed by the Tragically Hip’s live presentation. It didn’t matter which venue I’d see them in—whether it was the wee Railway Club or sprawling T-Bird Stadium, the classic Commodore or scenic Seabird Island—I always went away … Continue reading Gordon Downie thanks Bruce Allen for making the Tragically Hip famous in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 2, 1996 By Steve Newton There are all kinds of stories about bands being threatened by lawsuits over their names, but you can add another one to the list with the case of Minneapolis power-pop trio Semisonic. They were touring Midwest clubs as Pleasure last year when, out of the blue, … Continue reading Dan Wilson’s journey from Trip Shakespeare to Pleasure to Semisonic led to a Great Divide
kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 14, 1996 By Steve Newton At a private party in Yaletown last Friday (November 8), after the first of three Tragically Hip shows at the Pacific Coliseum, vocalist Gordon Downie leaned determinedly over a pool table to set up what he hoped would be a game-winning shot. He … Continue reading Gord Downie sinks the cue ball after the Hip gets a hero’s welcome on the Trouble at the Henhouse tour
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 20, 1984 By Steve Newton Former Max Webster guitarist/vocalist Kim Mitchell will be “going for his sodas” this Monday and Tuesday (July 23-24) at Club Soda on Homer Street. The Ontario-born rocker has just released his second solo album, Akimbo Alogo, on the newly-formed Alert Records label. He’ll be performing with the same musicians … Continue reading Kim Mitchell defends Max Webster, pledges allegiance to Pye Dubois, and storms the charts with “Go For Soda”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 21, 1989 By Steve Newton All the acts at last Sunday’s (July 16) rock ‘n’ roll bash at B.C. Place had played Vancouver last year—Rod Stewart at the Coliseum, Tom Cochrane at the Orpheum, and Jeff Healey at the Commodore. But that didn’t stop 21,000 rock fans from shelling out big bucks to … Continue reading Rod Stewart plays Vancouver with guests Tom Cochrane and Jeff Healey, no encores allowed
