ANVIL frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow was a guest on a recent episode of the “Between Awesome And Disaster” podcast hosted by comedian Will Carey. Speaking about how he is dealing with the coronavirus crisis and what the touring circuit might look like post-pandemic, Lips said (hear audio below): “The outside world is upside down. You can’t do anything without worrying about it. We’re at the point where it’s quite concerning in a certain sense. I’ve gotta see how it all turns out, but I think music and concerts are gonna be the last thing to come back, if they come back at all.
“There’s a part of me that’s saying, ‘This virus is not gonna go away,'” he continued. “No, I don’t see it. And all the closing down and everything that we’ve done, all we’ve done is prolonging what will inevitably happen. That’s what I kind of think. I think in the long run, no one is get saved that they thought they were gonna save. I think anybody vulnerable to this is gonna eventually get it and die. I don’t think that we’re gonna ever really get it under control until everybody’s had it and it’s done its… Like the other pandemics that the world has had, I think it’s gonna play itself out. I don’t know if there’s gonna be anything that we’re gonna be able to do as a human race to fix it. I don’t think so. And even if we do, there’ll only be another one, and they’ll come up with another reason to close down.
“I don’t see the world ever really going back to the way it was, in a certain sense,” Lips added. “It’s not a good feeling. Then again, because I’m 64, it’s not like I’ve got a long time to put up with it, that’s for sure. [Laughs] It’s gonna be everybody else’s world that I leave behind. If I’m lucky, I’ve got 20 years left — maybe I might make it to 84, but who knows?
“I didn’t retire from the music business; the music business retired from me.
“We’re gonna see hockey and football and basketball — those things will come back long before they’re gonna have a rock concert. That’s what I think. Because I think people view sports as being more important than music. God only knows why, but that’s how I see it. I think that the sports industry makes more money than the music industry.”
ANVIL, a Toronto-based group, was formed in 1978 by childhood friends, Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner. Both came from Jewish families and had been playing music together since their teens. ANVIL is considered to have been an influence on many metal bands, including METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX.
Though initially a four-piece band, ANVIL‘s current lineup includes Kudlow, Reiner and bassist Chris Robertson.
ANVIL gained popularity and new fans since the 2008 theatrical documentary, “Anvil: The Story Of Anvil”, which is currently available on Netflix.
ANVIL‘s latest album, “Legal At Last”, was released in February via AFM Records. The disc was recorded at Soundlodge studios in Rhauderfehn in the northwest of Germany.
