ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 15, 1993 By Steve Newton When major-label recording artists do interviews to promote a new release, they usually go on about how it’s the best one they’ve ever made, how making it sapped all the artistic energy their souls could muster—that sort of thing. Then there’s Colin Linden, who plays the … Continue reading Canadian blues-roots great Colin Linden is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet
I scored a copy of the new Stephen King novel Doctor Sleep for Christmas, which was great as it continues the story of The Shining, one of my fave works–next to Carrie, The Dead Zone, and The Stand–from King’s ’70s heyday. But before I even got into the further supernatural torments befalling the telepathic Danny Torrance … Continue reading Stephen King dedicates Doctor Sleep to underrated rock genius Warren Zevon
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 15, 1990 By Steve Newton Despite the fact that this city is home to Annihilator—one of the most promising young bands in metal—Vancouver has yet to prove itself as a world-class heavy metal town. Aside from Annihilator, there hasn’t been a successful metal recording act out of this city since Kick … Continue reading Annihilator’s Jeff Waters is getting into the “old hard-rock stuff” again
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 19, 1990 By Steve Newton There are some bands out there that are just made to play in bars—they have that certain something that demands you sip a frosty cold one while wallowing in their raucous boogie noise. The Beat Farmers are one of those, the Georgia Satellites another. And a … Continue reading The London Quireboys pride themselves on “proper” rock ‘n’ roll
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
“The songs were much more of a collective effort,” says Baker, “which is something we’ve been working toward since the beginning.”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 25, 2014 photos by the Newt By Steve Newton Saw my first concert at the Rio Theatre last night, and I gotta say, I love that venue for live music. The sound was great. And not only that, you can buy PBR in a can and walk around with it. Mind … Continue reading The North Mississippi Allstars shake ’em on down at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver
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 DEC. 12, 1991 By Steve Newton Vancouver’s Bob Rock is one of the most in-demand rock producers in the world today. The albums he’s worked on in the last few years have sold millions of copies and—in the case of Motley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood—made it to number one in Billboard. Recently, he … Continue reading Star producer Bob Rock just wants to play guitar in a band
earofnewt.com is a website that I, old-school Vancouver rock journalist and scary movie reviewer Steve Newton–the guy on the left, who isn’t Buddy–use to showcase my work from the last 40 years, and maybe even the present. Every post on this site was written by me. I’m not braggin’, it’s just a fact. The autographs … Continue reading about
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
bev davies photo By Steve Newton On January 21, 1984, B.B. King was in the midst of a two-week stand at the Plazazz Showroom in North Vancouver, and I got the thrill of my blues-loving life when I sat down with him in his hotel room and asked him a bunch of questions. Some of … Continue reading B.B. King plays Vancouver in 1984, Newt gets the scoop (and a photo)
By Steve Newton Guns N’ Roses were probably the biggest rock band in the world–or was fighting it out with U2 for that title–when this telling photo was snapped backstage in the early ’90s sometime. The thing I remember most about meeting Slash was when he offered me a guzzle from the bottle of Jack … Continue reading That time I turned down a swig of Slash’s JD at a Guns N’ Roses gig
