The Weird Saga of Rock Documentary ‘Anvil!’ Continues With Re-Release and Live Launch

thewrap.com:

believe it?” Gervasi said in the lobby of the Saban Theatre, which drew a hefty crowd that included longtime “Anvil!” fan Dustin Hoffman and “Jackass” star Steve-O, who moderated a post-screening Q&A with Gervasi, Yeldham, Kudlow and Reiner. “It’s happening again 13 years later!”After the aborted opening, Gervasi gave a quick history of his relationship with Anvil, which came when he was a teenager who slipped backstage at a London concert and ended up taking the band on a tour of the city the next day. “I met the band 40 years ago tonight, which is why this night is a f—ing serious night,” he said.

At the time, the band nicknamed the British kid “Teabag” – and when he sent a note to their website decades later, he said he got a quick response from Kudlow that said, “Teabag!

We thought you’d died or become a lawyer!”“I did have a minor heroin overdose at law school,” claimed Gervasi, who did not become a lawyer. “So they were almost right.”A sizeable chunk of the crowd had not seen “Anvil!” the first time around, so the film played as a mixture of fans remembering their favorite parts and newcomers discovering how funny and lovable the band’s occasional successes and frequent failures could be – particularly in retrospect, with the movie writing its own happy ending for a band that has recorded six more albums and done its biggest shows ever in the last 13 years.When the movie ended, the curtain rose to reveal the group, now a three-piece with only bassist Chris Robertson to accompany Kudlow and Reiner as they bashed through five songs and half an hour of head-banging.

Kudlow’s bald spot is bigger and Reiner’s hair is grayer, but otherwise, they’re still the hard-hitting, somewhat goofy, oddly endearing heavy metal band.