Tonight I watched some Spinal Tap comedy clips that had been recorded for the release of Tap’s new album. It was basically the Spinal Tap guys doing a bunch of improvised conversations as their Tap characters… stuff we’ve all seen before. This was boring enough that I quit watching after a few minutes, and made dinner for Reba and I. This was some cut up chicken breast I marinated with soy sauce, garlic, salt, sugar, and rice wine vinegar. Typical Ean stuff… whatever is lying around. This was pretty tasty over rice, and we had that while we watched a movie. The movie choices tonight were The Wrestler or Anvil. The Wrestler is some moving drama about a loser wrestler guy and apparently it somehow parallels Mickey Rourke’s life and is even more poignant for this reason. Or whatever. The other option was Anvil, which is a documentary about a seminal Canadian metal band which was famous for a few years in the early 80’s, never made any money, and instead of breaking up, just kept on going until the present day. It was a toss up between drama or what I thought would be comedy ala Spinal Tap, and I chose what i thought would be comedy. Ok, it was pretty funny, and pretty sad at times, but mostly, and surprisingly, it was touching and inspiring.
Anvil
Anvil basically follows the band as they do their super low end day jobs, practice, write songs, try to get a good producer, go on a low budget euro tour, etc., but the twist is that these guys are 50. They’re actually looking pretty good for 50, for what that’s worth. These guys have been best friends since 1973, and have stuck together in a band since 1981, but never run out of hope that they’re someday going to be rock stars. Both are totally loveable morons who bring a sort of wide eyed glass half full middle aged spin to a type of speed metal retard persona I thought I’d seen the last of in rural 1987 Washington. Anybody who’s ever been in a band on tour will recognize the missed trains, empty clubs, ripped off gig money, weird euro rock scene, boxes of self pressed CDs, supportive girlfriends, etc., and that much of this is fun for the recognition factor alone. However, what really makes the movie are the two main band members, Robb (drums) and Lips (guitar/singer), particularly the latter. At a euro metal concert that Anvil get added to, he freaks out over reuniting with B level rock stars he’d shared stages with 30 years prior, and it seems from his hyperactive gee-whiz response that in the meantime they have become idols as well as representatives of his own memories of rock stardom. I’ll say it: this had me a bit teary. Other points in the film were moving as well: the umpteenth fight/breakup/makeup between Rob and Lips during a studio session, as well as a final triumphaly packed show in Japan. All the way through, these guys are so darn earnest and nice I just couldn’t help but root for them. So what if they’re really not that good, so what if they’re 50 year old losers still trying to “make it” as metal stars in the 21st century, so what if their jobs consist of delivering school lunches in the snow, SO WHAT!? I hope they get signed and sell a zillion albums. These guys deserve it.
Now I want to play in a band again.
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