By Steve Newton On May 6, 1985, Vancouver blues legend Jim Byrnes was in the midst of a week-long stint at a nightclub in the West End. That's no big whoop as far as Vancouver music history goes, but considering how much Byrnes has contributed to the city's blues scene since then, I figured it … Continue reading Jim Byrnes on the Vancouver blues scene in ’85 and his idol Magic Sam
Tag: 1985
Nitevigil’s leather-clad teens put North Van on the metal map at the New York Theatre
nitevigil photo by bev davies ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 3, 1985 By Steve Newton North Vancouver's Nitevigil--the teenage metal band that made the finals of the Town Pump's Spotlight '85 competition--joined Ground Zero and Death Sentence in a "Heavy Metal Rockarama" at the New York Theatre last Friday (April 26). The young headbangers displayed the … Continue reading Nitevigil’s leather-clad teens put North Van on the metal map at the New York Theatre
Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover on the Mark II reunion and the “uncompromising” Ritchie Blackmore
There's [Ritchie's] famous reputation for sacking Rainbow's musicians, but no one ever got sacked for doing a good job, you know what I mean?
My first Metallica interview, back when they were too heavy for me
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 15, 1985 By Steve Newton Metallica are the type of band that puts the "heavy" in heavy metal. Actually, drummer Lars Ulrich--who called me from L.A. last week--prefers to call his band's music "speed metal" or "thrash metal". Their sound crew are known as "The Sonic Decapitation Team", and local metal … Continue reading My first Metallica interview, back when they were too heavy for me
Malmsteen then and now: interviewing Yngwie in 1985 and 2014
By Steve Newton Swedish guitar hero Yngwie Malmsteen turns 51 on Monday, two days after his appearance in Vancouver tomorrow (June 28) as part of the Guitar Gods show at the River Rock Show Theatre. He's caused quite a commotion in the hard-rock world in the last half-century or so. Why, just last week he … Continue reading Malmsteen then and now: interviewing Yngwie in 1985 and 2014
That time my buddy Stick of Mad Duck ticked off Metallica’s Lars Ulrich by asking him to jam
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 22, 1997 By Steve Newton Back when the Starfish Room was still a headbanger’s haven known as Club Soda, a rock-crazed pal of mine named Stick bumped into Lars Ulrich there. The Metallica drummer was hangin’ out with his entourage after one of the band’s intense Vancouver gigs when Stick—whose band … Continue reading That time my buddy Stick of Mad Duck ticked off Metallica’s Lars Ulrich by asking him to jam
Doc Neeson calls Angel City’s comparisons to AC/DC “a bonus”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 22, 1985 By Steve Newton "We were driving around L.A. yesterday," relates Angel City vocalist Doc Neeson, "and we passed this fantastic crowd of about 20 or 30 black guys--a conga band. So I stopped. Then one of them grabbed a hold of our lead guitarist! "And to us, culturally, you're … Continue reading Doc Neeson calls Angel City’s comparisons to AC/DC “a bonus”
My one and only interview with bass legend Donald “Duck” Dunn
 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 19, 1985 By Steve Newton When legendary guitarist Eric Clapton steps before the Coliseum audience Saturday (July 27) he will be fronting a stellar group of musicians. Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn is something of a legend himself among musicians, having played with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Booker T and the … Continue reading My one and only interview with bass legend Donald “Duck” Dunn