Trove and Anvil at Toronto’s Rockpile West, October 18, 2013
Trove is a Toronto based rock n’ roll band formed through friends that worked at HMV. Matt “Chewy” Chaitram, and Matt Bellissimo were practicing lead singer Aryn Powell’s original material when bass player and only female member, Alexa Pavao got word of the collaboration. Once a guitar player and drummer, Alexa wanted in on the action. She bought a Yamaha RBX, and explained her mission this way: “it was a relatively shitty instrument; I started playing, sounded pretty bad, but kept practicing.” Alexa has played in other bands and projects, but mentioned she always wanted to play with musicians who were established and “capable”.
Trove is beyond capable. Lead singer and guitar player Aryn reminds me of a young Jeff Martin from Canada’s own, The Tea Party. Aryn’s voice is not the deep, channeling darkness that is Mr. Martin’s, but comparably reflective and now. With intuitive and introspective lyrics, and spontaneous utters of heavy screams, there is something being channeled here. It was felt within the crowd who attempted moshing for a short time, getting into the primal urge of the heaviness that is metal.
Anvil truly delivered and Lips was, as I thought, larger than life. I met him prior to the show and he was all smiles, somewhat shy, and truly happy to be there. He is one of those people who radiate a feeling of being blessed. The energy was contagious; I was beaming too, and giggling, as only the best metal can bring out in me! Hearing “6…6…6” being sung repetitively made me laugh. Like a heavy metal cartoon, Lips exudes joy. He made me think of Slayer’s Tom Araya, who screams of Satan, while grinning ear to ear.
Anvil is the corner stone of the Canadian heavy metal scene. The big bands of today that rose from metal’s past all recognize Anvil’s contributions. Finally they are getting the recognition they deserve. A fan from Tokyo proved his devotion too. He found out Anvil was not playing the “Loud Park” festival, as mentioned in the Anvil documentary, and traveled to Toronto to see them play. That is dedication. Long live metal and the Canadian music scene!
Dee, Lips, and Joel
