Until eight years ago, Canada’s Anvil was virtually unknown outside the underground metal community. Then the release of the documentary “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” broadened the band’s fan base. The film’s chronicle of the hardscrabble band’s struggles may have reminded some of the classic mockumentary “Spinal Tap,” but this was no joke.
While most rockers their age would have thrown in their sweaty stage towels — the then-50-year-old guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow was a truck driver delivering meals to children to pay bills in between dive-bar shows — Kudlow and his longtime bandmate, drummer Robb Reiner, carried on playing mostly empty rooms, determined to make it big.
A look at an act goaded by a dream of stardom and playing for bigger audiences, the documentary was both traumatic and funny. Since forming in 1978, the group has endured the entrance and exit of five bassists and three second guitarists before eventually becoming a formidable trio in 2007.
Now in their 38th year as a band, Kudlow and Reiner — along with bassist Chris Robertson, who joined in 2014 — are finally making a living doing what they do best: playing heavy metal. Anvil plays San Francisco’s DNA Lounge on Tuesday, May 31.
If anyone needs proof that Anvil still has loyal fans, the band launched a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic, which achieved 114 percent of its goal to pay for recording expenses.
“There’s a lot of business we need to handle ourselves today, and we were all amazed at the fan support. Anvil is a brand name people know, and we offered fans packages ranging from buying one of my guitar amps to having dinner with the band,” said Lips, his preferred surname, in his hometown of Toronto. “It couldn’t have gone any better.”
“I would tell anyone who wants to criticize us that we are exactly where we are meant and want to be,” he added. “Some people expected us to commercialize or sell out, so to speak. They would say things like, ‘Why didn’t you take advantage of the movie and write a f— pop song?’ We’re Anvil, damn it! That is not what we do!”
The band has been releasing a steady stream of records, including its latest, “Anvil Is Anvil, ” on Steamhammer SPV. Propelled by standout tracks that include “Die for a Life” and the up-tempo “Run Like Hell,” the new record should please longtime fans and newbies alike.
While the band is still not a chart-topper in the U.S., playing for a couple of hundred rabid fans a night is more than ample reason to keep going until the wheels fall off, Lips said.
“There’s a large contingency of people that still hate us, which is really quite interesting. … It’s the Internet trolls who have made it hard for everyone to get ahead, no matter how good or bad,” said Lips. “Me? I’ll take the never-ending shows as long as I can get ’em.”
Anvil: 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 31. $15-$18. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., S.F. (415) 626-2654. www.dnalounge.com
(SF Chronicle)