Brightest Young Things

words by Pat Longstreth, photos by Dakota

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Spinal Tap has been touring and performing now for over thirty years. This is Spinal Tap, their 1984 mockumentary, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The band members have also performed as characters together in Waiting for Guffman, Best In Show, and A Mighty Wind.

This was their “Unwigged and Unplugged Tour.”  Tonight, the band was performing their songs, but they were not in character. In casual and comfortable attire (I think Harry Shearer was actually wearing sweat pants), they received warm applause from fans of all ages. They referred to each other by their real first names, which only seemed appropriate because they were interchangeably playing songs from all of their movies and albums.

Before “Flower People” (a personal favorite of mine), Michael McKean asked the lucky concertgoer in seat D6 to please come to the front of the stage. He then explained how this song would be performed in 3D, but they only had one pair of glasses, so this young blonde would be getting a special performance. She bravely played along and danced in front of the stage while each of the band members made lecherous motions at her with their guitars.

There were fun little twists and anecdotes throughout the evening. A sexy backup dancer gave a special onstage performance during “Sex Farm”. Micheal McKean introduced his wife, Annie O’Toole, as his “favorite living American” before she sang “The Good Book” from A Mighty Wind.  During “Stonehenge” there was a hilarious video projection of two puppet trolls fighting over a mini Stonehenge model. “Big Bottom” was performed as a jazzy lounge act.

They took a break in the middle for a Q&A session from the crowd. When questions were directed at “Nigel”, Christopher Guest would remind the audience that he was actually playing a character in a movie and none of that was actually real. He also revealed that there are plans in the works to make Waiting for Guffman into a Broadway musical (at which point Harry Shearer began rubbing his thumb and fingers together to signal that it was all about the money). They also mentioned how excited they are about their upcoming second show at Wembley Arena in June.

They topped off their third encore with a classic rendition of “Heavy Duty”. It wouldn’t have taken much to please this crowd of adoring fans, but these guys gave a flawless musical performance (also thanks to C.J. Vanston on keyboards) with fresh jokes and personal touches. After thirty years, they’re still having fun.

Backstage, VIPs and friends of the band anxiously waited for the stars of the show. We were all wondering one thing: “What the hell was I doing there?”  I’ve met a handful of famous people in my life, but it is still surreal every time. I eventually seized my golden opportunity to talk with Christopher Guest. After praising him for about thirty seconds, I decided to go for the photo op before it was too late. I quickly began suggesting funny poses. “Stare off,” “jump shot,” and “air guitar” were roundly rejected. He also made it clear that there would be no touching, which explains why my hands are neatly folded in front of me in the picture. I frantically tried to keep conversation going by asking him about the tour. He was friendly, but he also seemed extremely bored. Frankly, who could blame him? He’s Christopher Guest and I’m nervous nobody. I’ve heard people say that he can be rude in person. I just got the sense that he is sick of talking about himself. Unfortunately, Mr. Guest, if you’re going to quietly stand there atop a mountain of lifetime accomplishments, you shouldn’t be surprised when someone wants to pick your brain.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre