The Anvil Experience

If anyone was going to tell me that they were going to give high praise to Anvil’s album This is Thirteen, I must admit that I would have my reservations about their sanity. I mean, sure, I went to the theater to see Anvil! The Story of Anvil. And yes, I was choked up by the story. It was a beautiful story about a heavy metal rock band that almost made it. But that’s just what you say if you’re forced to summarize it in a sentence. If you’ve seen it, then you know that it isn’t just a story about a band; it’s a journey that reveals the character and hearts of men that fiercely loved their craft and would not give up on their music or each other. They care so deeply, in fact, that by the end of the film, even if you didn’t care for the style of music that these guys played, you would care for them, cry for them and cheer for them as their heavy metal band played on. If you haven’t seen it, the movie is brilliant. It’s a must see for anyone who has ever considered giving up on their dreams. If you have seen it, then you know what I mean.

But that was the movie. And as I pondered about whether or not I would like the show, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Anvil Experience could live up to that kind of masterful storytelling captured in the documentary. To be honest, I didn’t think so. I didn’t think so because I listened This is Thirteen and couldn’t get past the fact that it felt like it was the thirteenth album in a line of records that all probably sounded like 1982. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and many others have made careers out of playing the same style of crunching and thrashing songs that made them famous in the first place. But I’m not part of that legion. I never was. And just like the record executive in the documentary, I glanced over the brunt of the music really feeling like they weren’t giving us anything new. Now that being said, I still had to go to the show. After all, I needed to see how the story ended.

Now if there are any doubts that I wasn’t pulling for them, let me make this part very clear – I was definitely pulling from them. I was there to cheer them across the finish line. Maybe that’s why I had to be there for the Anvil Experience. If you think about it, even if the music turned out to be lacking, it’s still a remarkable story. These guys were finally doing the one thing that they dreamt about for nearly thirty years. How many people get to say that? This story, if nothing else, must be told in the context of the ultimate heavy metal underdog story of all time. This story could no longer be about guys who almost were. It had to be about guys who finally made it: The Anvil Experience, live at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California. That’s a long way from Canada. And I doubt even they could predict that they would one day play there.

So when Anvil finally took the stage, I was immediately reminded that there are two kinds of bands. There are those that put out great records and perform lousy shows. And then there are bands that put out largely ignored records (for whatever reason) and give great shows. If you’re lucky enough to see the category that is the latter, you can’t help but wonder if you had it wrong all along. There’s usually an energy and a electricity that you can’t quite put your fingers on, but you can’t help but be blown away by the showmanship and talent standing up on that stage before you. If Anvil had to be placed in any category at all, it is their optimistic aggression that firmly cements them in the latter of the two. They were honest, they were raw, and they were as tightly knit as any group that has ever rocked a stage. Not only were Steve “Lips” Kudlow, Robb Reiner and Glenn Gyorffy so good that they blew everyone else that played before them off the stage, they also did it with…style…personified when Lips happily took a vibrator out of his back pocket and used it for a truly memorable guitar solo. (As true as it was almost 30 years ago, I suppose no Anvil show would be complete without a vibrator serving as Lip’s slide on his guitar.) I know, it sounds crude, but you have to understand, metal is crude. And as Lips rocked the stage with a vibrating slide, I could only wonder if the rest of the audience understood the irony, genius and spirit in which it was played. It was as inspiring as Robb Reiner’s double bass breakneck drum attack. Every song they played from “666” to “Mothra “, from the epic set closing “Metal on Metal” and to the show ending “Jackhammer,” reminded me that they were sincere in their pursuit of metal purity. As I think back on the show, This is Thirteen sounds completely different, almost as if it were composed in honor of Heavy Metal itself.

Even more astounding (especially with Lips and Robb on the latter half of the century mark), their show reminded me what pure joy of the moment looked like. If I was stuck in a time warp, so be it – somewhere in that show, their joy translated into my joy. Their music was now my music and when Lips asked if anyone had seen the movie and the crowd cheered, his response was, “Well, then you’re not just fans, you’re family.” If these guys could make playing music feel like an encounter with an old and welcomed friend the way they did then they were, in short, proof that sometimes the good guy wins. In a way, the Anvil Experience was the perfect bookend to the documentary. Their spirit transcended the story itself and had me throwing up the horns and flashing a little metal – to honor the band, to honor their work, and to honor their lives. The Anvil Experience was nothing short of electric – nothing short of metal – nothing short of Metal on Metal. And they deserve this.