The Story of Anvil

Anvil! 

The Story of Anvil
(2008 American documentary about Canadian heavy metal band Anvil;
directorial debut of screenwriter and former Anvil roadie Sacha Gervasi)
by Live Music Head


I finally saw it.

Finally just now saw this doc,
eight years after it first came out (doh!)
and I loved it.
I absolutely f#@king loved it!
Loved it so much, I cried.
Yes, yes I did.
Now, 

I may not be particularly big on their music,
no,
but I became very, very fond of the boys who made it
(and still do)
from the get-go,

and with each passing minute watching their story. 

Heartwarming to see how Steve "Lips" Kudlow 

(the band's front man)

goes about his day job driving truck

for Choice Children's Catering,

delivering food to schools and institutions

which enables him to even have a job as a musician.

I loved the aching reality of it.

Everything about this story comes across as completely genuine.

I loved Lips' enthusiasm for the music, 

his passion,
his dedication,
and more than anything,
his honesty, and his stick-to-it-ness.
I loved learning about where the band was 

(and weren’t) thirty years in,
and where they still wanted to go.
Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band
who wrote a song about Lola's.
Remember those... 

them frozen fruit-flavoured triangles
we all sucked on as kids?
Well, ha! I sure do! 

I loved them too!
Watching Lips at fifty-something

meeting his idols with a child’s enthusiasm
backstage where Anvil played heavy metal festivals in Europe
reminded me of my own fifty-something enthusiasm for music,
and for those who make it.
And I really like that he’s had a solid,
life-long friendship with Robb Reiner.
Lips and Robb
(Anvil's drummer and awesome painter of solitude,

and textured poo floating in a toilet -
holy fuck, I laughed sooooooo out loud!) 

have been friends ever since they were 14.
And it’s quite something to see how,
since forming the band in 1978,
they still go about keeping it together on the road,

at home,
and in the studio,
while chasing down that ever-elusive dream
of making it big. 

I loved hearing from their wives.
And of course I love that they’re from Toronto.
One of the best darn documentaries I’ve ever seen in my life.
Five stars outta five stars.
And kudos to Lips for knowing how to apologize!


The trailer for Anvil! The Story of Anvil...