If you’ve seen Anvil! The Story of Anvil, you’ve witnessed how far the rock and roll dream can take some people, and how others get side-swiped by bad timing. In our culture of reality show second chances, it’s not often someone gets to relive the rock and roll dream outside of Guitar Hero.
Anvil guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner payed it forward last night at Emo’s, playing material old and new, posing for pictures afterward, and generally being nice guys from Canada.
The rock and roll dream also included:
Lips soloing with a vibrator
Lips’ myriad guitar faces
Lips and bass player Glenn Five doing the patented back-to-back move
Robb Reiner’s 12-minute drum solo
Lots of fist-pumping, but no moshing
Talking to a mother who was there with her 15-year-old daughter
Seeing the range of age groups, from long-haired teens to “lifers” with Maiden and Sabbath tats they probably cover for day jobs, it drove home how much metal is religion for some. Lips and Robb were obviously just happy to be there. I’m just glad I got to hear “Metal on Metal.”
This article appears in January 22 • 2010.