ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 24, 1999 By Steve Newton On the back cover of his latest CD, Come On In, Mississippi bluesman R.L. Burnside is pictured standing in his modest kitchen, strumming a Stratocaster and gazing toward his fridge—which is chained shut. Since Burnside has been known to distill his own moonshine, you might think … Continue reading R.L. Burnside keeps his fridge chained shut and his blues cool as hell
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 24, 1999 By Steve Newton Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater chose a good guy to hang with when he moved to Chicago’s West Side in 1950. As a budding, 15-year-old bluesman, Clearwater became close friends with Magic Sam, the legendary West Side guitarist who died of a heart attack at the age … Continue reading Eddy Clearwater took Magic lessons on Chicago’s West Side
kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 16, 1999 By Steve Newton In my recent interview with Alice Cooper he claimed that the set list for his current tour “includes all of the hits”, but time constraints rarely allow a performer—especially one who’s been around for nearly 30 years—to live up to that claim. Still, even … Continue reading Alice Cooper proves himself the undisputed King of Nasty Rock in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 14, 1999 By Steve Newton Guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan had a profound effect on a lot of people, and 21-year-old blues-rock whiz kid Kenny Wayne Shepherd is one of them. As the story goes, Shepherd developed his Stevie Ray obsession at the age of seven when the Texas Strat-strangler sat … Continue reading Texas Strat-strangler Kenny Wayne Shepherd goes all Stevie Ray on Vancouver’s ass
On September 1, 1989, Johnny Winter played the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. The chance to witness the underrated Texas guitar legend in the confines of one of Vancouver’s finest concert venues (for the second time) was not one I was about to pass up. Besides, at the time I was really grooving on his latest album, … Continue reading Johnny Winter is white, hot, and blue in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 25, 1999 By Steve Newton I’ve got a theory, and this theory, which is mine, is that everybody wants to be a rock ’n’ roll drummer. There’s just something irresistible about the idea of pounding away on a resonating circle until you’re sweaty and drained and then having … Continue reading Drum great Kenny Aronoff was never afraid to go for it
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 23, 1999 By Steve Newton Apart from an arena show with Rod Stewart in the ’80s, it had been nearly 25 years since fans of Jeff Beck last saw him play here, so the anticipatory vibe that surged through the Queen E around 9 p.m. last Saturday (September … Continue reading Jeff Beck’s astonishing Vancouver show crushes the myth that Clapton is God
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 11, 1997 By Steve Newton My reviewer’s copy of the long-overdue AC/DC box set was labelled with a warning that it was not for sale and “must be returned on demand of recording company”. Yeah, right—I’d like to see Warner Brothers just try to get this prized package back. They’d have … Continue reading Bonfire box a godsend for fans of AC/DC’s ear-bustin’ boogie blues
bev davies photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 6, 1999 By Steve Newton I’ve seen some funny things at rock concerts over the years, but one of the funniest goes way back to 1981, when the original Motörhead opened for Ozzy Osbourne at the acoustically absurd Kerrisdale Arena. Lemmy Kilmister and the boys were in full … Continue reading Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister says his secret to staying alive is not dyin’
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 9, 1999 By Steve Newton I’ve seen Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform in Vancouver four times now. The first time—one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life—was at the Commodore Ballroom in ’78, just after the release of the band’s sophomore album, You’re Gonna Get It. The second … Continue reading Mike Campbell’s instro-rock medley steals the show from Tom Petty in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 28, 1984 By Steve Newton It was a snowy and cold January afternoon in 1975 when several high school friends and I headed off to the second Vancouver appearance of an up-and-coming rock band named KISS. Almost all of us had our well-worn copy of the group’s first album and tunes … Continue reading Eric Carr claims he’s still a fox as Kiss recruits Mark St. John and unleashes Animalize
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
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
