Spinal Tap Reuniting Again!

Spinal Tap's green crusade
JAKE COYLE

April 25, 2007 10:50am

SPINAL Tap is back, to help save the world from global warming. If only they were clear on exactly what that was.
The mock heavy metal group immortalised in the 1984 mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of worldwide Live Earth concerts on July 7.
The original members of Spinal Tap will be there: guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), singer David St Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Rob Reiner, who both directed This is Spinal Tap and played the fake documentarian Marty DeBergi in the film, will also be in attendance.
A new 15-minute film directed by Reiner on the band's reunion will also play at the opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York tonight.
The festival is to open with a showing of several global warming-themed short films produced by the SOS (Save Our Selves) campaign.
SOS is also putting on the Live Earth concerts, to be held across seven continents.
Reiner has explained the reunion of Spinal Tap – a band always known more as a parody of rock 'n roll excess than environmental awareness.
"They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming," said Reiner, whose other films include When Harry Met Sally and Stand By Me.
"Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing – that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."
Spinal Tap has reunited several times since the film, but hasn't for a number of years.
For the band – whose last album was 1992's Break like the Wind - the occasion warranted a new single: Warmer Than Hell.
Reiner provided a sneak peak at the lyrics: "The devil went to Devon, it felt like the fourth degree/ He said, `Is it hot in here, or is it only me?' "
The director said the new short film explains what the band has been doing with their lives lately.
Nigel has been raising miniature horses to race, but can't find jockeys small enough to ride them; David is now a hip-hop producer who also runs a colonic clinic; and Derek is in rehab for addiction to the Internet.
Reiner, 60, has for more than 20 years worked with the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental action organisation.
Though the Spinal Tap reunion will be a lot of laughs, he hopes the SOS short films program and the Live Earth concerts have a substantial effect.
"What I think is going to be nice about this whole effort is there will be marching orders for people," said Reiner.
"Not only from a personal standpoint of what individuals can do in their lives, but a macro perspective with respect to the public sector and government."

Quote :

"The devil went to Devon, it felt like the fourth degree/ He said, `Is it hot in here, or is it only me?' "

CLASSIC!

Quote :

"Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing – that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."

What an appropriate band for a global warming concert.

I love this bit:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Nigel has been raising miniature horses to race, but can't find jockeys small enough to ride them; David is now a hip-hop producer who also runs a colonic clinic; and Derek is in rehab for addiction to the Internet.

I wonder if the short film will be available for download somewhere.



ARttie

arttieTHE1manparty wrote:

I wonder if the short film will be available for download somewhere.

http://liveearth.msn.com/?GT1=9280

Invader wrote:

arttieTHE1manparty wrote:

I wonder if the short film will be available for download somewhere.



ARttie

[url=http://liveearth.msn.com/?GT1=9280

http://liveearth.msn.com/?GT1=9280[/quote[/url]]

Thanks for the link Arttie... that was some funny stuff! I waited all day for the rest of my office mates to leave so I could watch it without anybody looking over my shoulder!

I remember when I was younger I was confused as to whether Spinal Tap was a fictional band or a real one.

Required Fields wrote:

I remember when I was younger I was confused as to whether Spinal Tap was a fictional band or a real one.

There are probably STILL people out there who think Spinal Tap is a real band. That's a testament to how good Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest are when they're "in character."

I was in college when the BREAK LIKE THE WIND album came out and I reviewed it for the school paper. I wrote the review as if this were a long-awaited comeback album from a legendary band, filled it with quotes and references to the movie, and basically shoveled it with both hands. When the paper came out, I could tell who was hip to the gag and who wasn't because I had people either telling me "Great review, man, that was hilarious" or "Wow, I had no idea that Spinal Tap had been around since the late 60s! I only heard of them a few years ago when that movie came out!" Duh.

Yeah, it can be kind of misleading. I remember looking for information on their 70s/80s albums such as Brainhammer, Smell the Glove and Shark Sandwich. Articles said "nearly every album is out of print". It confused me.

Ceasar Salad!!!!

bgast1 wrote:

Ceasar Salad!!!!

I believe that was "Seizure" Salad.

new spinal tap album

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/spinal_tap_recording_new_material.html

sam wrote:

new spinal tap album

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/spinal_tap_recording_new_material.html

YES!! Go Nigel, Go!!

Here's update on Spinal Tap:

They’ve put the wigs in a closet and kept the mini-Stonehenge in storage, but the members of Spinal Tap are back onstage. Not in character as the comical and perpetually washed up metal act, but as themselves: actor-musicians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, together performing an acoustic “Funky Sex Farm,” adding vocal grunts and heavy breathing between lyrics. “Getting out my pitch fork/ Poking your hay …”
It’s part of a medley of tunes at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California, on Monday to announce what amounts to a busy year in 2009, with a 30-city “Unwigged & Unplugged” tour beginning April 17th in Vancouver. The trio is also finishing a new Spinal Tap album, combining studio re-recordings of songs from the original film and brand new material.
A quarter-century after the theatrical release of the ultimate rock satire This Is Spinal Tap, the tour will have the trio performing for the first time as themselves, combining music from both that film and the affectionate 2003 folk-music comedy A Mighty Wind.
“We’re doing the trio tour because it’s so easy,” McKean says from stage. “We just have these wooden instruments and we don’t have to wear these things on our heads, unless we’re playing a temple —″
Adds Shearer, “Or a mosque.”
McKean and Guest first started writing songs together in 1967, and the three of them began playing as a unit in 1978. They do plan on some special live appearances later this year as Spinal Tap in full, wigged regalia, the first since their epic appearance at 2007’s Live Earth in London.
Upstairs after their press conference, Guest, McKean and Shearer talked to Rolling Stone. Follow this link to the full hilarious Q&A. And keep reading for the tour dates:
April 17 - Vancouver, BC @ Center for the Performing Arts
April 19 - Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
April 20 - Seattle @ Paramount Theatre
April 22 - Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
April 23 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara County Bowl
April 26 - Los Angeles @ The Wiltern
April 27 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Dodge Theatre
April 29 - Denver @ Paramount Theatre
May 1 - Houston, TX @ Jesse H, Jones Hall
May 2 - Dallas @ Nokia Theatre
May 4 - Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre
May 5 - Miami @ The Fillmore
May 6 - Orlando, FL, @ Hard Rock Live
May 8 - St. Petersburg, FL @ Mahaffey Theatre
May 9 - Atlanta @ Fox Theatre
May 10 - Nashville @ Ryman Auditorium
May 12 - Baltimore @ Lyric Opera House
May 13 - Washington, D.C. @ Warner Theatre
May 14 - Philadelphia @ Keswick Theatre
May 17 - Columbus, Ohio @ Palace Theatre
May 19 - Cleveland, Ohio @ State Theatre
May 21 - Toronto @ Massey Hall
May 22 - Mashantucket, CT @ MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods
May 23 - Boston @ The Wilbur Theatre
May 24 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Music Box at The Borgata
May 26 - New York @ Beacon Theatre
May 27 - New York @ Beacon Theatre
May 29 - Detroit @ Fox Theatre
May 30 - Chicago @ Chicago Theatre
May 31 - Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theatre

The Spinal Tap "Unwigged & Unplugged" tour is going to be in NYC this weekend. I would sooooo love to go!

I also hear that they're doing one show in London this summer in full character as Spinal Tap, and they'll be opening for themselves as "The Folksmen" (the band they played in "A Mighty Wind." How cool would that be to see??

Fat Freddy wrote:

The Spinal Tap "Unwigged & Unplugged" tour is going to be in NYC this weekend. I would sooooo love to go!

I also hear that they're doing one show in London this summer in full character as Spinal Tap, and they'll be opening for themselves as "The Folksmen" (the band they played in "A Mighty Wind." How cool would that be to see??

They recenlty played in my town. I dind't go, but I read a really good review of the show n the paper. Along with playing music, they also did a Q & A session with the audience. Sounded like alot of fun.

I'm really surprised people enjoy them past the nostagic factor of the (mind you, unfunny) movie they produced. If I want comedy in my rock music, I'll pop in some Rhapsody.

SpectreFate wrote:

I'm really surprised people enjoy them past the nostagic factor of the (mind you, unfunny) movie they produced. If I want comedy in my rock music, I'll pop in some Rhapsody.

Oooooooo, take that Rhapsody fans!! Zing!!

During the Q&A session I mentioned, someone in the audience made a comment about them being a "fake" band. Harry Shearer replied "Fake? You're the one that paid to see us live". I thought that was pretty funny.

I reviewed Shark Sandwich for my college paper when it came out.

"Sh!t Sandwich"

MetalGuy71 wrote:

During the Q&A session I mentioned, someone in the audience made a comment about them being a "fake" band. Harry Shearer replied "Fake? You're the one that paid to see us live". I thought that was pretty funny.

I'd consider Spinal Tap more "real" than some supposed "real" artists. They write their own stuff and play their own instruments. You can't say that about a lot of the crap clogging up the pop charts.

manny wrote:

April 19 - Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium

I'll be there.

check out this piece about the artwork.

http://www.chartattack.com/news/70734/spinal-tap

stream the whole album:

http://spinaltap.com/listen.php