ANVIL Concert Review

I realize that this is supposed to be a movie site, but I wanted to include this because a movie inspired me.

The documentary Anvil: The Story Of Anvil was one of the best of 2009; here is my review. The film showed Anvil, one of the pioneers of heavy metal music, laboring at menial jobs because they never became famous like their metal brethren Metallica or Judas Priest. Thanks to the tireless dreams of the band, the film becomes an inspirational ode to never giving up on your vision in life.

Thanks to the success of the documentary, the band, after 30 years of trying, have finally found an audience.

Anvil came to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri on Friday night, where they played at the largest small venue in town. With a capacity of around 2,800, The Pageant typically hosts decent-sized bands of a mid-tier quality. For a band like Anvil, who played to five people in one club in the documentary, this show indicates that they have finally “made it.”

There are three things that St. Louisans absolutely love without question: beer (St. Louis is the home of Anheuser Busch, so, duh …), Cardinal baseball, and rock music. There remains a simmering rock/metal scene in St. Louis, despite the fact that the rest of the music world abandoned those genres years ago. Sammy Hagar plays broomclosets everywhere else he tours, but in St. Louis he sells out three consecutive shows at 50,000 tickets a piece. He’s so popular, I wouldn’t be surprised if they erected an enormous statue of Hagar leaning on The Arch.

But Anvil is another story. Now in their fifties, the band has refused to alter their sound or update their approach. The music on their thirteenth album is exactly the same as their first one so long ago, which is commendable but suicidal in the industry these days. So it was surprising to see such a large and diverse crowd, even in a rock town like St. Louis; there were old men clad in leather, middle-aged suburban housewives, teenagers with mowhawks, and even an eight year old in a wifebeater rocking in the mosh pit. It was a strange mix, to say the least.

After two local metal acts opened (the excellent Gold Tooth, and the decent Conquest), Anvil finally took the stage. Lead singer/guitarist Lips ran out onstage with a huge smile on his face. Instantly you realize: Lips is exactly the same in that documentary as he is in real life. It’s not an act. The guy is goofy but instantly loveable; there needs to be a Lips doll sold somewhere at one of these shows. He’s like a Labrador Retriever that can also play the guitar.

And can he ever play. One of the gripes I had with the documentary is that we never really see how well the band can play. Lips is more than a fun, slightly-strange frontman; he is an excellent guitarist. He’s also a very creative guitarist as well; at one point, Lips pulled out the “famous” silver dildo and played his guitar with it for several minutes. It’s very clear that Lips loves playing metal music for anybody, but especially when he has the love of an appreciative crowd in front of him.

But Lips isn’t the only Anvil member who can deftly handle their instrument. Bass player Glenn Five – a fifteen year Anvil veteran who Lips referred to as “the new guy” – is stunning behind his monster bass, his fingers moving so quickly and maintaining a perfect backbone. However, it was drummer Robb Reiner who shocked me the most. This guy is in his fifties. He’s old. In the documentary, Reiner comes off like a man who might nod off at any moment. But when Reiner gets behind his drum set, he comes alive in a way that is almost spiritual. He unleashed a several minute drum solo that left my jaw on the ground. The fact that this guy has labored in obscurity for thirty years while Neil Peart gets worshipful handjobs is simply a crime. Reiner is amazing.

Where the band fails is in its songwriting, and that, more than anything, is probably the reason why they never made it very far. The music is fine, but the lyrics are generally atrocious. For instance, they have a song off of their thirteenth album called This Is Thirteen. Off of the album called This Is Thirteen. They played this at the concert. It’s completely meaningless, full of metal cliches strung together without any coherency. Even metal music, which generally survives on its aggression, needs to have some sort of point. Anvil songs generally lack this important songwriting aspect.

Despite this, the concert was truly a spiritual and inspirational experience. As Lips declared at one point, the band has finally made it. They quit their depressing jobs, and are now touring the United States and Europe. They are playing in front of thousands of fans every night. They never gave up on their dreams, and those dreams finally came true. It is a beautiful ending to that wonderful documentary.

Lips never stopped smiling Friday night. And, for the sake of the dreams we all have inside, I hope he never stops.