Anvil! The Story of Anvil!
- Thread starter Kaosaur
- Start date
KingsGene
God of Thunder
I also finally watched it this past weekend, and loved the movie and the guys. However, seeing them perform on Conan last night was somewhat embarrassing. I admire their "love for the game", but... ugh. They used to have a second guitar player...if things are going well now, they should really consider doing that again cuz Lips is....um...needs work.
Jasonic
Doom On!
I would seriously lose ALL respect I have for this festival if Glen ever booked ANVIL.
1) They are NOT very good. Their biggest fans will admit they are "C" level at best.
2) There is nothing redeeming or original about their music. Not saying music has to be original to be good, but still.
3) This festival never seemed to be one to simply give in to hype.
4) VH1 is already backing the re-release of their album and upcoming tour
5) Re-read reason #1
VenomGA
At War With Stan
- Jul 28, 2005
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Palabra de Dios
Heavy Metal Weatherman
You gotta hand it to them, it's like an underground band somehow sees some mainstream success through some clever marketing. I just wish it was a better band that had done this.
C'mon Angel Witch!
C'mon Angel Witch!
modernwizardry
I want stout!
Jasonic
Doom On!
all this coming from a person who has NEVER attended the festival!
I don't need to have ever attended the fest to respect the fest.
I would be VERY shocked if Glen would resort to a "15 minutes of fame" band like ANVIL to play the fest. Sorry, this band was never respected for a reason. They were mediocre at best. Doesn't mean they don't have some decent tunes. Furthermore, I am tired of this bullshit of people from Metallica, Guns, etc, all of a sudden claiming to be "long time fans" Funny, I NEVER in 20+ years EVER heard ANY of the Metallica guys mention Anvil.
Hype sells, but it doesn't mean you have to fall for it, esp a festival that has its grassroots in bringing something new to the table.
I do enjoy their Forged in Fire album the most out of what I have heard. I still think none of their material holds a candle to other cult N American bands. Just my opinion.
If there are any attendees here who seriously think booking ANVIL for Prog Power would be a good idea, I would love to hear your reasons.
HAHA! Yeah you gotta have respect for the passion that those guys show on the film but man that performance last night was god awfull.
What I like about the movie is that it grounds you, its the complete opposite of Flight 666 where it shows that for every huge metal act like Iron Maiden there are hundreds of bands like Anvil that just didn't make it. You can tell that they have their hearts in the right place but they just didn't get their break. Quite frankly, listening to their music I don't really think they would of gone anywhere with it before this film.
The movie is fantastic, even non metal fans will enjoy watching it.
- Nov 24, 2002
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TribunalRecords
Record Label(s)/Vocalist
not to be a d*ckhead, but you have never attended the fest correct? i believe i have read that in a post you made before. i mean having respect for Glenn is one thing, but there are plenty of us who attend PP every year that would LOVE to see Anvil.
i personally would love to have a CLASSIC act on the showcase regardless of C or F status. i mean we had LEATHERWOLF "cover band" didn't we? they were pretty awful.
at least ANVIL were an obvious influence to other great bands (i believe FREAK KITCHEN's guitarist did a famous PP guitar solo with a vibrator TWICE, no?) and a favorite of mine. the real question is why Lars takes out wanna-be's like The Sword and Gojira instead of Anvil. Money is why.
again, not trying to be a dick but i just watched the DVD and was moved.
it worked didn't it? he produced their record didn't he? why criticize something that worked? that is silly.
they are 50 and that is how it was done back in their day except it was a manager walking in and attempting to suck c*ck on the band's behalf for 10% of their money. oh yeah, i forgot, it's called HARD WORK. they actually go to meet someone face to face rather than sending an email. it's called respect and i believe Anvil have earned a little bit of it. the dude at EMI should have just been slapped. that was the worst BS spin ever.
i will say probably being one of the only people on this board who has actually toured in a band for the last 4 years (never outside the US mind you) there are idiots EVERYWHERE you go. we could drive two hours to a show and still run into same LAME promoters. sh*tbags = sh*tbags. crappy promoters will screw you at any chance. so i am sure the tour was planned well it just didn't go as they had hoped. i, luckily, have only been as far as california and wanted to stab someone in the neck.
why would they? they are 50+ years old doing what they do because they LOVE it. it's that simple.
that was awesome and all the jerk-offs not knowing who he was even after introducing himself. Carmine Appice sucks anyway and who would expect Michael Schenker to know anything but a bottle of vodka and his flying V, yet another douchebag getting WAY more credit than he every has deserved. i mean i could tell he was drunk, german and clueless even with his tacky sunglasses on in a dressing room. cool? no, losers do that crap. i also hate to break it to schenker, you are bald stop wearing a backwards baseball cap it only makes it worse.
Yes, despite my opinions it was awesome and a fun viewing even though it made me sad having been in the same predicaments of pushing a promoter to the wall saying "you better f*cking pay me!"
it's metal go watch it.
KingsGene
God of Thunder
Perhaps VenomGA should reiterate, but what I think he asked was if they would be good for the Showcase Thursday night, which is a completely separate entity from the official ProgPower USA Friday/Saturday. As I'm sure you are already aware, Glenn does not book the Showcase night....Shane does. And, Shane had booked "old school" 80s band Leatherwolf for one of the previous Showcases, so precedent has already been set.
Anvil certainly have the catalog of tunes and never stopped....as opposed to most 80s bands that quit and reformed when it was fashionable again. Not to mention the fact that it would seem Lips was playing his guitar with vibrators way before Freak Kitchen was doing it, and that seemed to go over pretty big with this crowd.
Edit: Tribunal beat me to the Enter button while I was typing this...dammit!
TexasBeth
Yes, that's my daughter
I saw Anvil (movie) the day after it came out and if I had got off my lazy ass and drove in the day it came out I coulda caught Anvil (band) live. Personally, overall, I am not a fan of their music. I saw the movie- it was touching in a lot of ways and deeeeeeply disheartening in others. ALL fledgling rock stars should watch it to show just where you can go with music.
Hell. There are "successful" bands (MANY of them) where their primary income is not music. Many of the musicians playing PPUSA and other fests, who tour at least semi regularly, have day jobs. It's just the sad economics of music.
My hat is off to the guys in Anvil for following their dreams but at the same time my heart breaks for how lost they sometimes seemed in that dream. There were times it was like they just didn't get it.
Would I want to see them at PPUSA? Probably not. Would I watch if they were there anyway? Probably. Would it be a dealbreaker to attend? Never.
Hell. There are "successful" bands (MANY of them) where their primary income is not music. Many of the musicians playing PPUSA and other fests, who tour at least semi regularly, have day jobs. It's just the sad economics of music.
My hat is off to the guys in Anvil for following their dreams but at the same time my heart breaks for how lost they sometimes seemed in that dream. There were times it was like they just didn't get it.
Would I want to see them at PPUSA? Probably not. Would I watch if they were there anyway? Probably. Would it be a dealbreaker to attend? Never.
TribunalRecords
Record Label(s)/Vocalist
nomisofsiman
Member
Gojira? A wanna-be act? I don't think so. Compared to most metal bands around nowadays, they march to the beat of their own drum and do original stuff that sounds fresh. The Sword? Yeah, they definitely wear their influences on their sleeve.
I personally like Anvil. Are they the best band ever? HELL NO!!!! You can't dismiss their influence on the genre though. They're just a fun band. Reiner also is a pretty competent drummer. Like others have said though, they need a second guitarist as Lips isn't the best. haha. I'd have to agree with Jasonic though. This would be pretty embarrassing to have them on a progpower bill. They don't fit.
Truthfully, while I like Anvil, I'm pretty disgusted that they're getting all this success due to the movie, which is great by the way. It should be based on the music, not that they're misfits that never "made it". It's sort of funny that this movie has had the reverse effect that "Some Kind of Monster" had. I'm honestly in shock that they have a huge US tour coming, especially the venues they're playing in. I think they'll be lucky to get 300 people per venue, and that's pushing it.
AeonicSlumber
srs
- Aug 14, 2008
- 4,893
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C'mon Angel Witch!
Honestly, I'd rather not see Angel Witch's awesomeness get tarnished by that kind of marketing. Making them out to look like Spinal Tap in a movie would make me rage so hard
. That s/t is one of the best metal albums ever made.
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TribunalRecords
Record Label(s)/Vocalist
i wasn't intending to put down Gojira as i am a fan, but it's funny when Lars talks about how good they were they could have EASILY had them out on stage opening but we all know metallica are about some money (or at least some of them). interesting parallel to the MUSE thread. Muse and Metallica have the same manager.
but back to topic on hand...why shouldn't they get the attention? they made an interesting documentary, regardless if you liked the band before this or not. it's a touching film which is why it's getting all the attention i think. they aren't getting the attention because they are "Anvil." which is why i agree about your comments on the US tour and venue sizes. i mean i am going if they come to NC because i have never seen them before and i would like the experience.
nomisofsiman
Member
BTW, for everyone here I don't know if you know this or not, but for their tour they're not having an opening act. Instead, they're playing the doc in full. I don't think this is a good idea now that the movie is out. I think if they were to have done this 6 months to a year ago, it would've worked. They would've given a cool movie/concert experience to people to see, but now that it's out I don't know if this is a good idea. To help them draw more, I think they probably should've had at least one opener as I said they won't be getting vast amounts of people. I will probably go to the HOB show because I've never seen them and this will probably be the sole time they tour here, but this could be a disastrous financial decision.
AMBR
Metal Grandma
Ok, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've seen the trailers and read several reviews and I'm trying to get this straight. How accurate is this movie as in did this really happen?
A.O. Scott, NYT had this to say:
"After a recent screening in Manhattan, two of my colleagues and I spent about 20 minutes on the sidewalk arguing about whether the film was a documentary at all. Evidence that it might have been a clever hoax was suggested by the goofiness of some of the groups lyrics and album covers (all of which feature, what else? a giant anvil) and by what seemed to be sly references to "This Is Spinal Tap" the definitive rock-mockumentary. One of the members of Anvil is named Robb Reiner, which is the Spinal Tap directors name with an extra b. On a trip to England, Anvil works with a producer whose equipment has knobs that go to 11, and the members of the band make a pilgrimage to Stonehenge."
The official Anvil The Movie website actually says:
"The director, Sash Gervasi has concocted (their word) a wonderful and often hilarious account of Anvil's last ditch quest for illusive fame and fortune.
So, is the story line totally factual or enhanced?
Also, did they really do this terrible tour under the guidance of some chick who has been portrayed as just a well-meaning fan w/o a clue or shred of experience on how to run a tour?
Anthony Lane in the New Yorker said this:
"The tour is organized, more or less, by a diehard Anvilista named Tiziana, who is incapable of booking train tickets, although her follow-up phone calls have the authentic tang of rock chick ( A like ass, S like Sodom ), and she, too, salvages something at the last minute by unexpectedly marrying the lead guitarist, Ivan Hurd."
Well, I needed to find out more, sooo, I checked the official movie website and they said Tiziana Arrogoni runs Sol Music Management. Uh huh, ok, so she's legit. (?) Checked out Sol Music Management and their website is pretty lame. Really lame. Also seems that since an extensive 2007 tour for Sepultura, they haven't done much else except for a few dates in 2008 including three for Shamen, and then three more for that band in 2009. Also a few date for AKA and Dr. Sin, who I'm not familiar with, really.
So, back to Diabolik's quote, it seems they really booked a whole tour with a fan who happened to work for a half-baked management company. Who would do that? Seems pretty stupid.
But wait, there's more.
Looks like someone else IS doing that. Scroll past the seminar dates, bio and banners til you get to the big banner for master classes and workshops. Click on "For more booking information." Looks whose handling this. No. Really?
The world just keeps getting stranger.
Sir Exar Kun
Member
This seems like something someone who knows nothing about heavy metal would have said. Its no sillier than album covers that re-hash either characters or symbols ala Queensryche, Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Helloween, Gamma Ray, etc. Granted, they're creativity may be a little more lacking, but when you are named ANVIL, what else would you incorporate???
nomisofsiman
Member
This seems like something someone who knows nothing about heavy metal would have said. Its no sillier than album covers that re-hash either characters or symbols ala Queensryche, Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Helloween, Gamma Ray, etc. Granted, they're creativity may be a little more lacking, but when you are named ANVIL, what else would you incorporate???
Ditto. This person had to have known nothing about metal. Like musicians like Lemmy, Slash and Lars for example would make up the fact that Anvil started a new brand of metal? There's no way to make up the fact of a number of the old footage of them that was in the movie. Do some friggin' research! haha.
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