Just got back from seeing Anvil, which was followed by a Q&A with Anvil. I saw the trailer a month or so back, and though it looked interesting in a Spinal Tap kind of way; in fact I had to ask a few people – older people – if it was in fact fiction or not. I laughed out loud when I saw, underneath the headline on the Aquarius Marque, “This isn’t Spinal Tap”. :D
The movie itself was surprisingly entertaining – fascinating in a lot of ways, and so authentic that it even felt too authentic; so much so that I readily noticed the couple of “we didn’t know what was around the next bend” moments which imply either some very creative remixing or a little bit of creative license.
Capping the surreal experience was the appearance of the band at the end, in the theatre, for the Q&A. I knew they’d be there, as it was Lance’s email stating as such that motivated me to go see it tonight. They were exactly the same in person as on the silver screen behind them.
I felt bad that the theatre was at 10% capacity at best – they really deserved a sell-out crowd. They did say though that the movie had improved their lot in life immeasurably, which is no trivial detail given how long they’ve been trying, and failing, to really make it.
And that was in stark contrast to the preview of Objectified I went to two weeks back, which also had a Q&A with the director and two of the designers interviewed. That was nearly full, up at the Kabuki Sundance in S.F. Though that was an interesting documentary itself, it’s a little sad that people round here are more into a movie about how toothbrushes are designed than a true lives’ story.
Alas they didn’t perform in the theatre; apparently they intend to in most of the forty or fifty theatres they’ll be appearing at, yet the Aquarius wasn’t able to facilitate that. They didn’t know why. I shall have to harass Lance on that one.
Though I’m not particularly into metal – I have only a handful of such songs, none from Anvil, yet at least – that really didn’t matter, as you’d probably think; you just have to respect these guys that have never stopped doing what they wanted to do. In the face of serious rejection, as the film shows.
I like what I do for a living, but I’ve no delusions about it; I know I’d be perfectly happy doing any number of other things. These guys though, they’ve known exactly what their lives are about since they were fifteen. They’re compelled to do it. That I am very jealous of.
