ANVIL Opens For AC/DC At Gillette Stadium; Video Footage, Photos Available

Canadian heavy metal legends ANVIL played their first show as the support band for Anglo-Australian rockers AC/DC last night (Tuesday, July 28) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Fan-filmed video footage of ANVIL's performance can be viewed below (courtesy of "imojoimojo"). Photos by Tom Couture are available at this location.

ANVIL will also open for AC/DC on July 31 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and August 6 at Magnetic Hill in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

ANVIL guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow recently told National Post about playing with AC/DC, "Doing the gig is the easy part, getting the gig is what's tough. I last saw AC/DC with my 11-year-old at the Air Canada Centre. Now, he'll get to see me open for the band in the States. It's bombastic, man. Really, really incredible stuff."

ANVIL landed the gigs based on the overwhelming response to and incredible buzz created by the critically acclaimed documentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil".

"What it came down to is the fact that AC/DC will benefit because they're the guys who extended a hand to help ANVIL out," Lips said. "I don't know if they saw the movie or not. I just know a decision was made by Angus [Young, AC/DC's guitarist] and he wanted see ANVIL triumph and succeed."

"All this stuff that's happening to us now could never have happened if we didn’t play for more than thirty years," Lips added. "I got to tell you, man, it couldn't happen at a better time in our lives. It bought me a retirement fund, if nothing else."

ANVIL, considered a major influence for a generation of hard rockers including METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, and GUNS N' ROSES, was the subject of a critically acclaimed, must-see rock-doc, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", directed by Sacha Gervasi. And in the process, the film has made the group (led by Kudlow and Reiner — both founding members) a household name. But the group's story will certainly not end with the film.

On September 15, "This is Thirteen" will finally see proper national distribution on CD and vinyl via VH1 Classic Records. The CD will feature the newly recorded, never-before released bonus track "Thumb Hang". The collectible double vinyl LP boasts newly re-recorded versions of ANVIL classics "Metal on Metal" and "666". The album, originally recorded in 2007 and produced by Chris Tsangarides (JUDAS PRIEST, THIN LIZZY),was primarily available directly from the band via their web site and at their concerts.

According to RollingStone.com, ANVIL is currently re-recording several other classics with producer Chris Tsangarides, which will be included on a forthcoming "Anvil!" soundtrack. "What happened was the label that owns the old material wanted so much money to license the songs, that it became ridiculous," explained Lips. "In fact, it was far cheaper to go in and re-record in the same studio [Phase One], with the same producer, and re-do the songs. The new version of 'Forged in Fire' is amazing — I think the original version was played too fast. Remarkably, we're getting a second chance to record the songs."

Other freshly re-recorded tunes are "Winged Assassins", "March Of The Crabs", and "School Love". "It's going to be a true 'Best of Anvil', in a way," added Reiner.