Metal on metal

I've always admired the seige mentality of heavy metal fans. Let me give you an example. My friend Tom has, for many years, been such a person. Grown out the hair, plays in a pretty successful band, dresses in leather, gets excited about going to Donington, etc. Like most fans of that type of music, he knows it's not - and is never going to be - cool, and frankly, he doesn't give a hoot. There's the attitude of "this is what I love, balls to the world" that I think is pretty cool, and that's at the heart of the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil, which is about a band called Anvil and the tribulations endured by the band Anvil. Did I mention that the group is called Anvil?

Anvil is composed of Lips and Robb Reiner (really), two guys in their 50s who momentarily flourished in the early 80s, then watched as their peers Bon Jovi and Scorpions sold bajillions worldwide, and nothing came of them. Following them around a European tour in 2007, having taken a month off from their jobs in Canada, you see how far they've fallen, and also how much they still believe in the band. It's impossible not to sympathize with them as they play to six people in Prague, miss trains, get lost and sometimes don't get paid. The lengths to which they go, and their refusal to throw in the towel and say "well, maybe it's not to be", is inspiring and also moving.

Well worth a watch, and yes, they do wind up at Stonehenge at one point.