Photography Reviews

Concert Review: Anvil @ Space Ballroom in Hamden, CT 4/4/23

Down in the city of Hamden, Connecticut at a little venue called the Space Ballroom, a night of heavy metal was to commence.

By Shannon Wilk / April 7, 2023

Down in the city of Hamden, Connecticut at a little venue called the Space Ballroom, a night of heavy metal was to commence.

Opening the night was an original band comprised of two brothers out of Hartford, CT. You might be thinking – two brothers? How can you have a rock n’ roll band with just two people? Well the Balkun Brothers set out to prove that they could make sonically full music with just two guys on the stage. The band was voted ‘Best Rock Band in New England’ at the New England Music Awards, and clearly have created quite the buzz both locally and internationally.

Their music is quite unique, blending straight up hard rock with instrumental, alternative, funk and punk. Over on stage left, Steve Balkun wields a black baritone guitar that he built with 2 outputs, playing through both a bass and guitar amp at once! On the other side of the stage is Nick Balkun absolutely destroying the drums, keeping perfect time and throwing in a few stick tricks here and there. Overall, the Balkun Brothers were a great warmup set for the night.

Next up was a heavy metal band from New Jersey, Midnite Hellion. This 3-piece group combines their influences of ‘80s heavy metal, thrash metal and NWOBHM and creates a full throttle auditory experience. Their 45 minute set included primarily songs from their 2022 release, Kingdom Immortal, and just one song from their debut album. For this tour, founding members Drew Rizzo and Rich Kubik enlisted guitarist Jeff Wilson to melt the faces off audiences all over the country. This show marked 12 years since the forming of Midnite Hellion and what a better way to celebrate than with a packed house!

As the 10 o’clock hour rolled around, it was time for the headliner of the night, the mighty Anvil. Kicking off their set with a beyond fierce entrance, frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow immediately heading out into the crowd and ripping a totally mean guitar solo as his die-hard fans watch from up close.

Opening with 2 classic Anvil tunes off the band’s 1982 release, March of The Crabs and 666. Kudlow leans into the mic and triumphantly announces “this next song is about the legalization of marijuana, thanks to our great prime minister Trudeau!” and the three jump into Legal At Last, drummer Robb Reiner pounding on the drums with a joint in his mouth.

Throughout the set, bassist Chris Robertson provided stellar vocal harmonies backing up their lead vocalist. Then it was time for the audience to Take A Lesson in Badass Rock N’ Roll. The crowd erupts into cheer and as it dies down, one audience member yells “PLAY FORGED IN FIRE!” and frontman “Lips” says “well we weren’t going to play that song tonight, but if you insist” and the band kicks into the requested tune.

Going back to their ‘82 album, Anvil shows their proggy-edge with a dynamic song, Mothra. Kudlow and Robertson chase each other around the stage before “Lips” takes center stage. He yells into the pickups of his flying-V guitar “HELL YEAH”. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a vibrator and begins playing his guitar with it – “4 different ways” as bassist Chris Robertson pointed out.

The band finishes off Mothra and then takes it to a more recent release, 2018’s Bitch in the Box. “You need a really great drummer for this song, and we have one of the best” remarks Kudlow before queueing Reiner to begin Swing Thing. Reiner takes a drum solo playing very traditionally, something not many metal drummers are trained to do. Anvil closed out the night with their classic song Metal On Metal and frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow heading back out into the crowd to end the show. What a set from these 3 musicians.

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