Anvil
© Lauren GreenfieldIn April 2009, the documentary “Anvil! The Story of Anvil!” premiered. At the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Anvil frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow, 52, performed a solo set at the Anson Ford Amphitheatre.
Anvil is the story of the band that just couldn’t. In 1973, in Toronto, Kudlow, 52, and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together. They were thirteen years old, with big ambitions of heavy metal stardom. After 36 years of failed tours of epic proportions, bad deals, and incompetent (but devoted) managers, they wondered how much closer they actually were to their dream.
Anvil has been recognized as “the demi-god of Canadian rock”, having influenced Megadeath, Metallica, and Slayer — meanwhile, their own story read like a series of futile tragic-comedies. They’re still following their North Star of rock venue spotlights, hustling for shows, keeping their (thinning) hair long (aside from the bald patches), convinced that they’ll make it. In the meantime, they’ve taken adjunct jobs: Reiner is some sort of demolitionist, and Lips delivers prepared meals to schools. Sometimes he wears a hair net.
Sacha Gervasi, a former Anvil roadie and director, spent three years filming the band through unfortunate tours and family feuds, capturing quotes of resigned optimism such as Lips: “After all’s said and done, at least I can say that all has been said and done.”
click to view complete set in the archive
