Riding the Spinal Tap ticket into the spotlight, veteran Canadian heavy-metal group Anvil will perform along with a screening of the acclaimed, painfully real documentary about themthe tongue-in-cheek, redundantly titled Anvil! The Story of Anvil. (The SIFF-favorite doc, which our Aaron Hillis called candid and heartbreaking, has won festival awards and opens for its regular run at the Varsity on April 17.) The flick chronicles why, after touring with no less than Bon Jovi in 84, the group was playing to five-person audiences in metal-friendly Europe two decades later. Of course, the band keeps the faith (har, har) and still plays with unparalleled aplomb, appealing to fans of irony and Iron Maiden alike, no Stonehenge necessary. KORY GROW
Tue., April 14, 8 p.m., 2009
