By Steve Newton The Omen was a great horror flick. You remember it, right? It starred Gregory Peck as an ambitious American diplomat on the way up with a young son named Damien who was the devil’s spawn. That 1976 movie was jam-packed with shocking visuals: the rottweiler attack in the graveyard, the nanny hanging … Continue reading Omen IV set visit for Fangoria leads to Satanic 666 sighting in Vancouver
Just came across this video from 1999 of a gaggle of diehard Lynyrd Skynyrd fans going nuts when they get inside the old abandoned Riverside Studios in Jacksonville, Florida, where the southern-rock legends used to rehearse and record, along with .38 Special. They all get pretty psyched when they come across a drawing on the … Continue reading Lynyrd Skynyrd freaks invade Riverside Studios on a Blair Witch-style scavenger hunt
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 25, 1990 By Steve Newton The liner notes to Squeeze’s new live album, A Round and a Bout, contain a precise itinerary of the 892 concerts that the band has performed around the world since forming in ’74. There are early shows at the Camden Girls School and after that the … Continue reading Squeeze carries on undeterred after Jools Holland opts for his “Mr. Showbiz caper”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 28, 2003 By Steve Newton Beppe Gambetta has been opening new doors for American traditional music in Europe since 1977, when he founded the acclaimed Italian bluegrass group Red Wine. In recent years his output has included Serenata, a 1997 CD of works by turn-of-the-century Italian string virtuosi, which he recorded … Continue reading Beppe Gambetta has been a Zeppelin guy and a Doc Watson guy
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 11, 1997 By Steve Newton This four-disc package of Doors material, spanning the years 1965 to ’71, favours previously unreleased live tracks and demo recordings over studio-polished hits, and documents the band in all its eccentric, unrefined, and—with tunes that pass the 18-minute mark—excessive glory. Its mix of … Continue reading The Doors box set documents the band in all its unrefined glory
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 17, 1983 By Steve Newton Swiss rockers Krokus recently released a new album of scorching heavy metal, Headhunter, and they play Vancouver sometime this summer. I spoke to the group’s vocalist Marc Storace recently, and gained a few insights into the new LP and the Swiss music scene … Continue reading Krokus warms up with Tom Allom and finds blood and guts on Headhunter
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 2, 1985 By Steve Newton Blue Oyster Cult‘s Tyranny and Mutation. Aerosmith‘s Rocks. UFO’s Phenomenon. The Montrose debut. Back in the early to mid-’70s those albums forged a sound that critic Lester Bangs called “heavy metal”. They were dynamic and forceful, fast, loud, and proud. The bands that made them had … Continue reading Guitarists from Exodus, Exciter, and Metal Church weigh in on the heaviness of metal in 1985
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 2, 1982 By Steve Newton .38 Special’s July 5 gig at the Kerrisdale Arena has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales, and according to lead singer Donnie Van Zant “it’s a real shame”. The show would have been the band’s second Vancouver appearance. Their latest album, Special Forces, is #27 … Continue reading .38 Special’s Donnie Van Zant on the origins of southern rock and the drive of Jacksonville bands
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 12, 1996 By Steve Newton When you think Seattle rock, you picture plaid shirts, baggy shorts, vein-bulging vocals, and propulsive guitar noise comin’ at you in heavily amplified blasts. You don’t necessarily envision a guy like Pete Droge, whose rootsy, laid-back style has more in common with Tom Petty’s breezy, melodic … Continue reading Pete Droge’s Pearl Jam connection led him to Find a Door
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 14, 1985 By Steve Newton “Are you having a good time?” asked Terry Adams. And the capacity crowd at Club Soda–who obviously were–answered with a resounding ‘Yes!”. “Yes what?!” countered bassist Joey Spampinato. And that’s the way it was last Thursday–with the New Rhythm & Blues Quartet (NRBQ) making fun of … Continue reading NRBQ tars and feathers a Cabbage Patch Kid just for kicks in Vancouver
By Steve Newton Back in ’97 I got assigned by Fangoria magazine to cover the filming of a FOX-TV miniseries called Intensity. Normally I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about a FOX-TV miniseries, but this one was based on a novel I really loved by Dean Koontz, so I was in. Here’s a shortened version of the story … Continue reading Analyzing psycho-killer Edgler Vess’s spider-eating ways on the B.C. set of Dean Koontz’s Intensity
By Steve Newton In 2015 I interviewed Guthrie Govan of the Aristocrats, but there wasn’t enough room in the paper to include all the cool shit the guitar genius had to say to me. So I banged out one blog on the influence of Joe Satriani and Zal Cleminson, and then another one on how … Continue reading That time Guthrie Govan told me that the Aristocrats recreated Eddie Van Halen’s echo from Fair Warning at L.A.’s Sunset Sound
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 6, 2003 By Steve Newton Unless you’re really up on your rock guitarists, Walter Trout may be the biggest guitar hero you’ve never heard of. In a 1993 BBC Radio 1 poll of the top 20 players of all time, Trout came in sixth, ahead of such six-string legends as Stevie … Continue reading Walter Trout has a spiritual bond with his Strat of 30 years
