Interview

Good documentaries have a lasting effect on the viewer; few, though, have changed the lives of their subjects as much as Anvil! The Story of Anvil, out yesterday on DVD. (PHOTO CREDIT: BRENT J. CRAIG/ANVIL!)

Since its theatrical release last April, Sacha Gervasi's warts-and-all portrait of two aging Canadian rockers has been turning Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner into the metal stars they always dreamed they would be. Anvil! (also the name of the band) has been described as a non-fiction This Is Spinal Tap, and Michael Moore called it the best documentary he's ever seen. It certainly has everything–arguments, teary confessions, and laugh-out-loud moments, and is anchored by what must be two of the most likeable and persistent guys to inhabit the metal world. Even after they missed the boat that Metallica, Megadeth, and Bon Jovi jumped on, Anvil kept playing shows and recording albums. Gervasi's film traces a somewhat disastrous European tour they embarked on shortly after Lips's 50th birthday, complete with near-empty shows and overnights at the airport.

Thanks to the film, though, the band's fortunes have changed. This summer, they opened for AC/DC in front of about 30,000 fans at Giants Stadium. (In a Nightline segment about the band that ran Monday, Kudlow confirmed it was the biggest show they'd ever played.) On the DVD's audio commentary, Kudlow (guitar and lead vocals) mentions they're recording tracks for "Rock Band." And he and Reiner (drums) found a label to release their latest album, This is Thirteen, last
month, and have a book out on the 20th.

Their big North America tour starts in January. Most importantly, as they told Conan O'Brian last night, they've quit their day jobs."They're long gone," Reiner said. "I just stopped showing up," Lips added. "Sorry, Donald! That's my boss."