"Anvil: The story of Anvil"

 
Saw a great documentary last night that was part of the L.A. Film Festival. "Anvil: The story of Anvil" directed by Sascha Gervasi, is one of the best films about music that I've seen in a long time.

Back in the early 80's Anvil was one of the architects of the speed metal sound. In a great opening montage, we see footage of them playing to a packed festival in Japan intercut with glowing testimonials from some of Metal's elder statesmen. Fame and fortune, however always eluded them, and bands that they paved the way for such as Slayer, Mettallica and Anthrax went on to thrash much more successfully. Why? Inept Producers, Unscrupulous labels, being from Canada or maybe they just suck. Irregardless , Anvil never stopped rocking, playing to a smaller and smaller group of hard-core fans for the next 25 years. 

Today, the two remaining original members are Steve "Lips" Kudlow (who back in the day used to rock a bondage harness onstage while using a dildo as a guitar slide), and drummer Robb Reiner. Friends and bandmates since their teens, these guys toil in musical obscurity playing barely attended gigs while dealing with wives, kids and dead-end jobs. The similarities intentional or not to Spinal Tap are amazing. The fact that they stay at it despite label and fan indifference, a disastrous european tour not to mention being in their 50's, just goes to show how much they love to play, and it's hard not to be touched by their tenacity and passion, however knuckleheaded it may be. Despite the odds, Anvil is given the opportunity to record a new album, and get invited to play another festival in Japan which serves as a nice bookending device. 

Incidentally, the film was shown at the John Anson Ford theatre, and if you ever get the opportunity to see a show there, go! Kind of a mini-Greek theatre nestled in the Cahuenga Pass, it has a nice pastoral intimacy feeling miles from Hollywood. When we got there, the stage was setup with musical gear before the film started, so you knew they'd be playing, but after watching "Anvil" and getting to know these guys, when the lights came up and Lips was playing his flying V axe, you couldn't help but smile and flash your devil sign.