Canadian band has released 15 studio albums
Published in the March 4 – 17, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Anvil backstage at a recent show. The band will play at the Granada Theater March 18. For tickets and more information visit www.morganhillgranada.com.
Photo courtesy Anvil
Morgan Hill’s Granada Theater is going to have a real life ‘Spinal Tap’ experience when the heavy metal music band Anvil performs on its stage March 18.
Anvil was formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1978 and consists of Steve “Lips” Kudlow (vocals, guitar), Robb Reiner (drums) and Chris Robertson (bass). The band has released 15 studio albums. Over the years it has toured with the Scorpions and Bon Jovi and has had an influence on other heavy metal groups, including Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica.
The Granada Theater organizers got a chance to bring Anvil to the South Valley when a booking for the band to play at a San Jose club fell through because that venue was too close to the Filmore Theater in San Francisco where the band is performing March 14.
Granada Preservation Society President Stephen Beard received a phone call from a friend involved in booking Anvil.
“They had to move further south than San Jose, and Morgan Hill is just beyond the radius,” he said. “So he called me in an emergency mode and said, ‘Hey, can you put the show on?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’”
Beard suggested that perhaps before the performance, the Granada could show the 2008 “rockumentary” film “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” made about the heavy metal band by director Sasha Gervasi. The filmmaker and the band manager loved the idea of combining the two experiences for audiences, which has never been done before on the same day and at the same venue, Beard said.
The film will start at 5:30 p.m. Those purchasing a concert ticket will receive a free ticket for the movie.
The Granada is also putting together a special VIP dinner package letting fans of Anvil enjoy a dinner with the musicians at the GVA Cafe lounge.
The concert will start with three opening acts including Morgan Hill Band Demiz. Each band will perform a 20-minute set.
“It’s neat that we’ll have dinner and the movie and the band. No one has ever done this before,” Beard said. “So far, I already know three people who are flying in from out of state to go to this show.”
Anvil never quite achieved the level of success as other bands, but the musicians were so dedicated to heavy metal music that they kept going even when people suggested they stop. That’s why Gervasi decided to make his movie, which looks at the band as a real version of the hit film “Spinal Tap.”
“The filmmakers just followed these guys who were not going to give up on their dream,” Beard said. “And that documentary won a bunch of film festival awards and started to get a following, and now Anvil is a household name and everyone wants to come and see them. So they’re selling out concerts all over the world.”
