ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 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 18) was understandable. … Continue reading Jeff Beck’s astonishing Vancouver show crushes the myth that Clapton is God
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 15, 1991 By Steve Newton 13 Engines once played a gig in Memphis to a total of two people, which is less of a crowd than most bands get at rehearsals. But the Toronto foursome did a heckuva lot better than that at the Town Pump last week (August 7), pulling … Continue reading 13 Engines are runaway locomotives at the Town Pump in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 6, 2000 By Steve Newton It’s a bit weird coming from a small town that has the same name as a popular ’70s rock band. When you admit to having been born and bred in Chilliwack, there’s always some joker who’ll wonder aloud, “Hey, isn’t that where that ‘Crazy Talk’ band … Continue reading Bill Henderson says Chilliwack ripped off its name for the First Nations vibe
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 26, 1992 By Steve Newton More than any other metal tune in 1992, Megadeth’s “Symphony of Destruction” was the one that made this jaded, riff-ravaged semi-headbanger sit up and take notice. Driven by a brutally direct, ’70s-style guitar riff, the sharp-edged cut was a welcome respite from the … Continue reading Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson believes metal is a powerful force in the ’90s
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 20, 1999 By Steve Newton I like John Mellencamp, but my sister Julie and cousin Cory are crazy about him, so I did some serious scroungin’ and wangled three backstage passes to meet the Indiana rocker before he went on stage at GM Place last Saturday (May 15). Now, for those … Continue reading Perfecting the lost art of the backstage meet ‘n’ greet at John Mellencamp in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 1, 1994 By Steve Newton When famous rock guitarists reminisce about their first instruments, the talk tends toward dirt-cheap acoustics with heavy strings set so high off the fretboard that it hurts just to look at them. Not with Billy Gibbons, though. The incomparable guitarman for ZZ Top got an atypical … Continue reading ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons tells me “them low-down blues ain’t bad”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 18, 2000 By Steve Newton I’ve yet to be bitten by the techno bug. You won’t find any discs by the Chemical Brothers or Crystal Method in my collection, or any stashes of Ecstasy in my dresser drawer. But after listening to the new Joe Satriani CD, Engines of Creation, I’m … Continue reading Joe Satriani takes a techno turn on new Engines of Creation
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 POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 16, 2010 By Steve Newton The movie’s tagline reads: “49% motherf**ker. 51% son of a bitch”, so you know it’s gotta be about Motörhead bassist-vocalist Lemmy Kilmister. Lemmy is the feature-length documentary about the life and career of British metal legend Kilmister, which gets its U.K. premiere at the London … Continue reading Lemmy doc profiles Motörhead’s “motherf***er” Kilmister
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 11, 2012 By Steve Newton Deep Purple fans saddened by the cancer death of keyboardist Jon Lord last month have something to look forward to, as a 40th-anniversary tribute to the group’s biggest album, Machine Head, is scheduled for release this September. On Re-Machined, some of the world’s loudest bands will be covering songs from … Continue reading Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes joins Joe Bonamassa on Deep Purple tribute
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 13, 1992 By Steve Newton Some hard-rock bands like to boast about not using keyboards; they take pride in sticking with the trusty old guitar-bass-drums ideal. Guns N’ Roses might have been such a band in its early days, but when it came time to record its ground-breaking Use Your Illusion … Continue reading Now that he’s in Guns N’ Roses Dizzy Reed can buy drinks for all his freennz
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
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 13, 1999 By Steve Newton John Mellencamp had the biggest-selling album of 1982 with American Fool, which boasted such huge radio hits as “Hurts So Good” and “Jack and Diane”. I interviewed him in advance of a show at the PNE Forum that year, and at the time Mellencamp—then known as … Continue reading John Mellencamp cuts back on smokes, ramps up songwriting after heart attack
