SuicideGirls was headbanging alongside Keanu Reeves, Dustin Hoffman and The Chelsea Girls at the American premiere of the rockumentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood last night. Benji and Joel Madden, Henry Rollins, Mark McGrath, Chris Jericho, Ryan Gosling and Rufus Sewell also came out to show their support.

The film is a real-life twist on Spinal Tap, telling the story of two friends, Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb "Geza" Reiner, who, at the age of fourteen, pledged to rock together forever. As instigators of the speed metal sound, their band, Anvil, inspired a generation (Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Anthrax, to name but a few). They toured the world with The Scorpions, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake, but while all these band's went on to sell millions, for whatever reason, Anvil faded into obscurity.

Fortunately for them, one fan-turned-friend, Sacha "Teabag" Gervasi, never forgot Anvil's awesomeness. After finding success in Hollywood as the screenwriter of the Steven Spielberg-directed film The Terminal, Gervasi looked up the band that had made a man of him (literally) back in the eighties. He found that, despite their spectacular lack of success in the intervening two decades, Robb and Lips had never given up on their friendship or their dream. Finding this incredibly inspirational, Gervasi decided to tell their story.

At its core, Anvil: The Story of Anvil is an epic anthem about friendship, and the Los Angeles premiere reflected this. Gervasi's buddy Keanu Reeves introduced the film, and friend of the band (and SG) Scott Ian of Anthrax took to the stage with Anvil for a hard rockin' post-film performance. Thanks to the noise this film has created, Lips and Robb, who are now in their fifties, are finally set to get the attention they deserve.

"It was extraordinary," said an excited Gervasi when SG asked him for his post-premiere reaction this morning. "It was overwhelming having Dustin Hoffman come up to me and say it's the most incredibly moving, human film he's ever seen."

Unlike many a Hollywood premiere, where the celebs walk the red carpet for the benefit of the cameras before discretely slipping out the back door before the film starts, the stars in attendance hung around until Anvil's very last chord.

"Dustin Hoffman sat through an Anvil metal concert," Gervasi enthused. "On his feet stamping and cheering. Dustin Hoffman headbanging to '666'!!!"

"I'm beyond words man, I gotta tell you, it's really out there," said Lips, who remains down to earth despite his new found celebrity fanbase (which includes Madonna, Trent Reznor and David Byrne). "The effect of this movie, regardless of your status, of who you are, what kind of person you are, how successful or unsuccessful you are, the kind of effect this has on them is the same. It's such a universal feeling that people seem get from the movie...It doesn't matter who you are, what walk of life, it will affect you and make you feel good."


The Story of Anvil opens in the US on Friday, April 10. Catch Anvil live and see the film on the Anvil Experience tour. Go to AnvilMovie.com for more info, and read our interview with Sacha Gervasi HERE.

Images from left to right:
Top: Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Dustin "Headbanger" Hoffman and Robb "Geza" Reiner. Bottom: Keanu "The Wall" Reeves, Eddie "Metal Show" Trunk, Chris "Man of 1,004 Holds" Jericho and Sacha "Teabag" Gervasi.