Anvil @ House of Blues

[Hangar18]

Pretty fun show last night. A Chicago area band called Earthen Grave (featuring violinist Rachel Barton of CSO fame) opened for them, and their brand of metal with a Violin was pretty interesting.

Anvil was pretty interesting to hear, especially songs that were 20 years old like Metal On Metal. I was disappointed that Lips was using guitar amps that looked straight out of 1981, as his sound did not cut thru the way the bass players sound did.

The crowd was about as well mixed and varied in ages from teenagers to 40somethings, pretty crazy. Lips smiled and grinned his way thru their set and seemed like the happiest guy around, really cool to see. Towards the end of their set, he mentioned having so much fun and that he's just like everyone in the audience, a "fan", and said he wanted to meet as many of the fans afterwards as possible at their vendor stand in back.

As the show ended, I definitely wanted a picture with the guys, and bought their new CD, but after a while, the HOB Security people began yelling at people to get their coats and get out, and began to make a rude, yet polite effort to start pushing people out. I put my coat on and figured oh well, no picture today. As I walked towards the staircase, I notice Reiner the drummer on stage packing some gear. Security had already cleared the mainfloor area, when on a whim, I yelled "Hey Robb", he looked over at me,
and I yelled "I want to take a picture with you, but they're kicking us out!".
Reiner looked over and saw all of the security people and the fans streaming out, when he jumped down and motioned me over. That was awesome.

Of course a bunch of other people saw this and he came by and started talking to fans, taking pics and being just a genuine great guy, thanking people for coming out to see them. Very cool.

Lips, the guitarist/vocalist then wandered on the stage and saw the commotion and also jumped down and walked towards the security people.
I luckily got my camera out and mentioned to him that I remembered their music from back in the day, and after shaking his hand and asking about his equipment, a bunch of people noticed him as well, to which he said "Don't worry everyone, I am going to sign every single thing here, I'm not leaving til I meet every single one of you". Super cool guy just having fun.

[hawkiconk]

i just recieved my latest copy of 'goldmine' magazine (the music collector's bible) dated feb. 26

on the last page there is a review of this concert.
the reviewer is very impressed with lips.

[Hangar18]

Originally Posted by hawkiconk

the reviewer is very impressed with lips.

I took a picture with Lips after the show, and its a priceless pic man

[hawkiconk]

Originally Posted by Hangar18

I took a picture with Lips after the show, and its a priceless pic man

could you share it??