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UZEB may be “the Van Halen of jazz”, but they sure don’t get paid the same

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 7, 1985 By Steve Newton Last year’s Vancouver appearance by Quebec jazz/fusion quartet UZEB was one of my picks for the Top Ten concerts of 1984–right up there with Scorpions and R.E.M. Now the group is returning to the Commodore Ballroom for two nights, next Friday and Saturday (June 14 and … Continue reading UZEB may be “the Van Halen of jazz”, but they sure don’t get paid the same

Alice Cooper’s youthful band breathes fire into the shock-rock king’s classics in concert

kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 26, 1990 By Steve Newton If Alice Cooper‘s concert at the Coliseum last Thursday (January 18) were a horror movie–and in a way it nearly was–it might have been called The Return of Alice, Part 10: The New Blood. On his latest tour, the king of nasty rock … Continue reading Alice Cooper’s youthful band breathes fire into the shock-rock king’s classics in concert

The B-52’s make a triumphant return to Vancouver in the wake of Cosmic Thing

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 26, 1990 By Steve Newton Why, oh why, did the B-52’s have to get booked into the Orpheum? As one of the prime providers of bouncy, shake-your-booty pop-rock, the band would have been so much better in a place where it’s okay to move around, and where concert-goers have the option … Continue reading The B-52’s make a triumphant return to Vancouver in the wake of Cosmic Thing

North Mississippi Allstars ramp up the rock on 51 Phantom

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 18, 2001 By Steve Newton For last year’s debut CD, Shake Hands With Shorty, the North Mississippi Allstars thoroughly plumbed the catalogues of Mississippi hill-country blues icons Fred McDowell, R.L. Burnside, and Jr. Kimbrough. On their new disc, 51 Phantom, the band took a different tack, including only … Continue reading North Mississippi Allstars ramp up the rock on 51 Phantom

R.I.P. B.B. King: the nicest bluesman I ever met

By Steve Newton As you’ve most likely heard by now, B.B. King, the beloved “King of the Blues”, passed away last night at the age of 89. He was receiving hospice care at his home in Las Vegas, where the longtime diabetic was recovering from dehydration. You can read all about the great man’s numerous … Continue reading R.I.P. B.B. King: the nicest bluesman I ever met

The Cramps borrow Loverboy’s barricade to keep crazed Vancouver fans at bay

kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 20, 1990 By Steve Newton What do squeaky-clean teen idols Loverboy and the crude ‘n’ demented Cramps have in common? Sweet-bugger-all, you say? Pretty close, but the Cramps did borrow Loverboy’s barricade to use in front of the Commodore stage last Thursday (April 12). With a house full … Continue reading The Cramps borrow Loverboy’s barricade to keep crazed Vancouver fans at bay

WPA’s Mick Thomas recalls seeing AC/DC, Cold Chisel, and Midnight Oil play a pub in Geelong

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 21, 1990 By Steve Newton Halifax, Nova Scotia: Could those three words possibly conjure up images of a city full of alluring possibilities and untold enchantment? Well, when Mick Thomas of Australia’s Weddings Parties Anything first heard them, his imagination was piqued, and he couldn’t wait to see what the city … Continue reading WPA’s Mick Thomas recalls seeing AC/DC, Cold Chisel, and Midnight Oil play a pub in Geelong

Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” chosen as the top heavy-metal song of all time

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 2003 By Steve Newton Toronto-based music writer Martin Popoff is Canada’s top expert on heavy metal. Senior editor of metal mag Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and author of The Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal, the Trail, B.C.–raised Popoff certainly knows his stuff when it comes to … Continue reading Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” chosen as the top heavy-metal song of all time

Reviewing Nickelback in honour of pot-lovin’, hard-rock musicians from Alberta

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 31, 2002 By Steve Newton For more than 10 years I rented a dumpy old house near 58th and Main that was known as the Rock Palace because of the all-night rock-’n’-roll parties held there. The best thing about those cop-attended bashes was when these pot-lovin’, hard-rock musicians … Continue reading Reviewing Nickelback in honour of pot-lovin’, hard-rock musicians from Alberta

Def Leppard’s Steve Clark on the long wait for Hysteria and the legacy of Pyromania

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 17, 1988 By Steve Newton Most successful recording bands like to put an album out every year. Sometimes they’ll skip a year, to vacation in the Bahamas or release a live or best-of LP. After three years their fans start to get a bit worried, not to mention the band’s record … Continue reading Def Leppard’s Steve Clark on the long wait for Hysteria and the legacy of Pyromania

Steven Tyler screeches like a budgie from hell as Aerosmith rocks Vancouver on the Pump tour

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 23, 1990 By Steve Newton Boy, the nerve of those Aerosmith guys! They stay in our city for months on end, tie up our world-class studios, use our best producers and engineers, hog all the seats in our strip bars, and then deny the city’s top entertainment rag a crummy phone … Continue reading Steven Tyler screeches like a budgie from hell as Aerosmith rocks Vancouver on the Pump tour

The Cramps’ Poison Ivy says that what passes for rock ‘n’ roll isn’t

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 6, 1990 By Steve Newton Legend has it that B-movie mogul Samuel Z. Arkoff took an ass-backwards (but ultimately effective) approach to producing his low-budget films. First off he’d come up with a catchy title; then he’d build an advertising campaign around that title; and only then would he start shooting … Continue reading The Cramps’ Poison Ivy says that what passes for rock ‘n’ roll isn’t