Anvil! (concert)

On November 7th, I saw Anvil at the Montage Music Hall in Rochester, NY.  It was a fabulous show!  There were not alot of people (maybe 250?  I'm terrible about guesstimating) so it was very intimate, and I could get up close to the band and take these pictures and videos!  Bear with me, they were taken with my not-smart phone, but I was impressed at how they turned out.  And you can see how close I was.  

Before the show, we watched Anvil!  The Story of Anvil, and it was just as good as the trailer made it out to be.  I definitely recommend!  These guys are NOT a joke like Spinal Tap though.  They are the real thing!  It's real power metal that comes from the heart.  No, they don't take themselves too seriously- "Thumbs will twist. . .can you resist?" is an actual lyric, and Lips the singer/lead guitarist is known for using vibrators for solos.  But they are a real group.  And because they don't take themselves too seriously, it is fun!  I had a BLAST at this concert if you can't already tell!  

It's their incredible struggle that made me want to see them.  Lately I had been feeling really down because I felt like I could no longer have goals or interests now that I am a parent.  It is also hard because it happened much sooner than I intended.  I was extra depressed around that time, and when we saw the video in class, I thought "wow!  I'm not dead because I'm a mom!  These guys have kids and shitty jobs and they play heavy metal!!!"  While I'm not aspiring to wear leather bondage wear and play guitar solos with sex toys, I found it SOOO inspirational.  

Anyway!  Like I said, the concert was great, albeit it started around 11 pm after some mediocre opening bands we didn't listen to.  They played such favorites as "This is Thirteen" (from their newest album), "Thumb Hang"  (made famous in the movie- about the Spanish Inquisition" and of course, "Metal on Metal".  I was in the first row, right in front of Glenn Five.  I'm pretty sure he looked at my phone in one of the videos.  It wasn't a rowdy crowd, which is good because this was the first concert I went to without a man to protect me.  I met some of the local Rochester metal heads, and it was a great time. 

Lips singing

Lips Soloing

Bassist Glenn Five

Glenn rocking out

Glenn and Lips- I never got a good one of Robb Reiner playing drums!

Blurry Robb and Glenn with a "don't f*** with me" look

Anvil bass drum

From top:  Solo during "This is Thirteen";  Lips' soloing using a lascivious item; "Metal on Metal"!!!

Ok here is the best part of the whole night- I met Robb Reiner!

It's meee!

I think he thought I was a little drunk but I was just in total fangirl mode.  I was just so excited!!!  I let him know what an inspiration he and Anvil was to me, and that I was a (very) budding musician.  He told me to follow my dreams and not ever give up even when people tell you to.  I wish I remember exactly what he said, but that was the gist of it.  A little cliche, but just what I needed to hear.

I did e-mail Lips afterwards about how much I loved the concert and how I sooo wished I could meet him.  I also asked if I could ask a few questions for this project, but he didn't offer to let me interview him.  However!  Here is his reply:

"Hi Kait, I wish you all the best! To continue in the music business, you need to make money from any other source..also it must be something not too over barring and not too time consuming. Never depend on music as your main source of money...if you do it can be disastrous. I never put that kind of stress or expectation on my music that way it stays pure at heart...doing music for the love of it...doing it for the right reasons...good luck to you...LIPS"

Again, I don't really intend on being in "the music business" but now I have tips if I do!


Yay Anvil!