Now, I am not a heavyhead - I more prefer soul, classic rock and really good pop music (NOT your "Stars in their eyes/Britain's got talent type soulless rubbish!) - but I have, in the past, listened to a bit of Sabbath, Purple, Zep etc, so this film intrigued me.
I went along expecting to see the usual "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" type documentary, but I found instead a film that laid bare the heart and soul of the industry, and gave us a portrait of a great bunch of "lads" who refused to give up their dreams of making it big, despite endless set backs, poor management, awful records and being ripped off at every corner.
The scenes in which the band played to just a handful of people in dingey little dives is something I can relate to, having been a follower of local bands back in the 1980's. It is awful to travel many miles - in Anvil's case often many 100's, neigh 1000's of miles - only to find 5 or 6 people have bothered to turn up to hear the band, and it is awful for the owner/organiser whoever to turn round and refuse to pay. But this is the truth behind the glamour of the business known as show. Let us not forget for every Megadeath and Slayer there are 100's of Anvils, bands that promised much but, for whatever reason, never quite made it.
This sounds all very depressing, but this film is far from that. There are heart-rending scenes, arguments and disappointments for sure, but there is also a lot of laugh-out-loud humour - some of the fans are just amazing! - and there is one superb visual quote back to the daddy of all rock 'n' roll comedies "This is Spinal Tap" (I wouldn't give it away, but it was easy to spot the "Tap" fans in the audience when it occurred!) WARNING: END SPOILER COMING UP. All the disappointments, upsets and all are all forgiven and forgotten in the last scenes in the show when the band visit Japan to play a festival. Having found they are billed to appear at 11am in the morning the fear was that, yet again, only a handful of fans would turn up, but... The crowd that greeted the group made everything that went before worth all the hassle, and shows how loyal and fantatical the Japanese fans can be (having traded with Japanese music fans via a certain well-known auction site I know this for sure!) The film almost made me go and bid for a copy of 'Metal on Metal', but maybe not. The music still is not my favourite, but if I ever get the chance to see Anvil perform live I will be first in the queue! Keep on rocking lads!
I went along expecting to see the usual "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" type documentary, but I found instead a film that laid bare the heart and soul of the industry, and gave us a portrait of a great bunch of "lads" who refused to give up their dreams of making it big, despite endless set backs, poor management, awful records and being ripped off at every corner.
The scenes in which the band played to just a handful of people in dingey little dives is something I can relate to, having been a follower of local bands back in the 1980's. It is awful to travel many miles - in Anvil's case often many 100's, neigh 1000's of miles - only to find 5 or 6 people have bothered to turn up to hear the band, and it is awful for the owner/organiser whoever to turn round and refuse to pay. But this is the truth behind the glamour of the business known as show. Let us not forget for every Megadeath and Slayer there are 100's of Anvils, bands that promised much but, for whatever reason, never quite made it.
This sounds all very depressing, but this film is far from that. There are heart-rending scenes, arguments and disappointments for sure, but there is also a lot of laugh-out-loud humour - some of the fans are just amazing! - and there is one superb visual quote back to the daddy of all rock 'n' roll comedies "This is Spinal Tap" (I wouldn't give it away, but it was easy to spot the "Tap" fans in the audience when it occurred!) WARNING: END SPOILER COMING UP. All the disappointments, upsets and all are all forgiven and forgotten in the last scenes in the show when the band visit Japan to play a festival. Having found they are billed to appear at 11am in the morning the fear was that, yet again, only a handful of fans would turn up, but... The crowd that greeted the group made everything that went before worth all the hassle, and shows how loyal and fantatical the Japanese fans can be (having traded with Japanese music fans via a certain well-known auction site I know this for sure!) The film almost made me go and bid for a copy of 'Metal on Metal', but maybe not. The music still is not my favourite, but if I ever get the chance to see Anvil perform live I will be first in the queue! Keep on rocking lads!