ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 5, 2001 By Steve Newton A silver Keith Richards–style skull ring catches the glare of the dressing-room lights as Todd Kerns wraps his fist around a can of Coke. The blue and red dragon etched on his right bicep, a ringer for Ozzy Osbourne’s chest tattoo, quivers slightly as he lifts the … Continue reading Static in Stereo sets the controls for the heart of the seventies
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
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 26, 1990 By Steve Newton As far as arena spectacles go, Sunday’s (July 22) Stevie Ray Vaughan/Joe Cocker double-bill was pretty lame. No huge banks of lights, fancy lasers, or explosions. But there didn’t need to be. Those who laid down bucks for the Coliseum show got their money back in … Continue reading Stevie Ray Vaughan says “it’s good to be alive with you” at his final Vancouver show, five weeks before the crash
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 APRIL 1, 1999 By Steve Newton So why would I want to go see Mötley Crüe when I don’t even care for its juvenile brand of exploitative crotch-rock? Good question. Maybe it was because I wanted one last look at the unseemly underbelly of ’80s rock, one last wander through that wasteland … Continue reading Mötley Crüe’s scuzzy antics in Vancouver make the Newt pine for Brownsville Station
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 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. You see, his … Continue reading Growing up in Buffalo, the Goo Goo Dolls are almost Canadian
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 22, 1999 By Steve Newton When most people hear the name Rick Derringer, they probably think of his ’70s hit “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo”, which typified the randy guitar-boogie of the free-love era. Others may remember him for “Hang On Sloopy”, the 1965 sing-along number Derringer did with his first … Continue reading Guitar legend Rick Derringer has soloed for everyone from Alice Cooper to Air Supply
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 23, 1998 By Steve Newton There are some bands I used to like in the ’70s that make me embarrassed by that fact in the ’90s. Back in high school, I figured Uriah Heep Live was the cat’s ass, but now, it’s like, “What was I thinking!” And I still recall … Continue reading An inspired Yes makes up for a flaccid Alan Parsons Project in Vancouver
On the phone from his Boston home, Earl comes off as an artist driven as much by compassion for others as by a personal joy in making music.
me ‘n ferg backstage with john ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 28, 1997 By Steve Newton Most of the folks attending John Fogerty’s first Vancouver concert in 12 years last Friday (August 22) must have been aware that he had returned to playing some of his old Creedence Clearwater Revival hits, but nobody knew for sure … Continue reading John Fogerty reveals the full meaning of the mystical phrase yee-haw! in Vancouver
By Steve Newton Back in 2014 I had a nice little chat with Swedish guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen, in advance of a Guitar Gods show in Vancouver. I mentioned that the last time I saw him live was on the G3 Tour at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre in 2003 or something. We got to talking about his … Continue reading Yngwie Malmsteen calls Ibanez guitars “a bad copy” of the Strat and says Les Pauls are “furniture”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 13, 1997 By Steve Newton When the time came for California guitar great Robben Ford to record his latest CD, Tiger Walk, he had a pretty good idea which rhythm section he wanted backing him up. He’d heard it on a Keith Richards album. “I’m not really a Stones fan,” says … Continue reading Robben Ford scoops up Keith Richards’ rhythm section for Tiger Walk
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 13, 1997 By Steve Newton When Ventures cofounder Bob Bogle walked onto a Seattle used-car lot one afternoon in 1959, he wasn’t expecting to form the nucleus of what would become the world’s top-selling instrumental-rock band—he was just looking for some new wheels. Fortunately, he ran into aspiring rhythm guitarist Don … Continue reading Ventures guitarist Don Wilson on the origin and influence of “Walk, Don’t Run”
