Tried to post this in the live review section, but I'm not allowed to post there. So...
Trash metal, slop metal, cheese metal, call it what you want, the fact is that Lipps and Robbo have been doing this since 1977.
They have experienced a renaissance recently, due to last year's documentary film ANVIL!: The Story of Anvil. I've heard many tales of them playing to audiences of five people in bars around Toronto, but those days are over for now.
The Phoenix club was sold out on this January night, around 700 in attendance. The movie was not screened as advertised, instead we had to suffer through an opening band, unfortunately named Voodoo Bunny. Cliched, boring alternative indie rock, with a yowly chick singer. Thank god they cut it short, and the lights went down, and then the hometown boys plunged into "March of the Crabs". Lipps was visibly moved by the rabid crowd, and immediately plunged into the first row soloing like a madman.
The energy did not let up for a solid hour, which included classics "666", "Winged Assasins", "Mothra" and a stunning version of "Thumb Hang", which Lipps dedicated to an ailing Ronnie James Dio.
Robbo delivered a fiery 10 minute drum solo in "White Rhino", shades of Ian Paice, and Lipps played an extended guitar solo with the aid of his trusty Hitachi Magic Wand vibrator, which was blessed by a young lady in the front row.
A stellar "Forged In Fire", a Mad Dog interlude where he came up onstage and downed a Molson Canadian in his own inimitable fashion, and a thunderous encore of "Jackhammer" and we all got our money's worth.
As an added bonus, the band came out after the show and signed autographs and took pictures with whoever came calling.
Trash metal, slop metal, cheese metal, call it what you want, the fact is that Lipps and Robbo have been doing this since 1977.
They have experienced a renaissance recently, due to last year's documentary film ANVIL!: The Story of Anvil. I've heard many tales of them playing to audiences of five people in bars around Toronto, but those days are over for now.
The Phoenix club was sold out on this January night, around 700 in attendance. The movie was not screened as advertised, instead we had to suffer through an opening band, unfortunately named Voodoo Bunny. Cliched, boring alternative indie rock, with a yowly chick singer. Thank god they cut it short, and the lights went down, and then the hometown boys plunged into "March of the Crabs". Lipps was visibly moved by the rabid crowd, and immediately plunged into the first row soloing like a madman.
The energy did not let up for a solid hour, which included classics "666", "Winged Assasins", "Mothra" and a stunning version of "Thumb Hang", which Lipps dedicated to an ailing Ronnie James Dio.
Robbo delivered a fiery 10 minute drum solo in "White Rhino", shades of Ian Paice, and Lipps played an extended guitar solo with the aid of his trusty Hitachi Magic Wand vibrator, which was blessed by a young lady in the front row.
A stellar "Forged In Fire", a Mad Dog interlude where he came up onstage and downed a Molson Canadian in his own inimitable fashion, and a thunderous encore of "Jackhammer" and we all got our money's worth.
As an added bonus, the band came out after the show and signed autographs and took pictures with whoever came calling.