This year has been pretty awesome, especially in light of it being the 25th anniversary of This is Spinal Tap. Earlier I got to see the primary three members unplugged and unwigged in Dallas, now I met the keyboardist from the legendary Smell the Glove tour the movie “documented.” Getting to see David was an accident too. All Summer I had been bugging my co-workers into going to the Alamo Ritz’s Quote-along/Sing-along event. I had never been to one but if I was going to check it out, this well-loved comedy would be the best initiation. Despite all my efforts, Jeff was the only one who could make it when the last opportunity arose.
So we headed down Thursday evening in Jeff’s bitchin’ blue Mustang. The night was off to a great start when we scored a free parking spot near Red River. Then in the lobby, everyone was given a free inflatable guitar to jam with during Nigel’s solos. As we settled into our seats, the Alamo played videos of bands to get the crowd into the right mindset (AC/DC, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden). Then Jeff said how the theater flew in David Kaffinetti. I replied with puzzlement saying there’s nothing special in this show. We missed the one two weeks earlier which had a live cover band. There it was on his iPhone’s Web browser. My response was “Sweet! We will have now met 80 percent of Spinal Tap!”
The rules of the Quote-along/Sing-along were pretty simple.
- Lyrics were posted to help the audience.
- Key quotes from the movie were also posted but they’re spoken when they turn yellow.
- Whenever the guitar icon appeared during Nigel’s solos, everybody jammed along on their inflatable guitars.
The hosts then held a quick jamming contest between three brave volunteers before introducing David. As soon as he set foot on the stage, he immediately transformed into Viv and led the crowd through the first verse of “Big Bottom.” He was available for the Q&A after the movie.
How was the experience? Pretty cool I think I’ll twist Jeff’s arm into attending an Eighties Metal theme or another movie we both dig. It wasn’t as obnoxious or as rude as I thought it would be. The quoting parts only occur during key lines: “These go to 11,” “There’s a fine line between clever and stupid,” and (of course) “Have a good time, all the time;” not during the entire movie. Jeff’s a good sport too which helps when playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero.
What did I learn from the Q&A?
- I must meet Fred Willard. David said he’s one of the funniest people around, backing Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest’s comment.
- David charmed Rob Reiner for the part by telling the director he was the real thing (English and in bands).
- Spinal Tap has more in common with Uriah Heep than Slade (the band I though they were parodying) but the girlfriend trying to manage really happened to Aerosmith during their heavy heroin-usage days.
- The Stonehenge gag wasn’t borrowed from Black Sabbath, it was a coincidence and theirs was too large for most venues.
- No studio was make the movie unless there was a script. It only had a treatment so everyone passed until “the guy who created the meathead show, Norman Lear” donated $2.7 million of his own money.
- Over 85 percent was ad-libbed. Only Sir Denis Eaton-Hogg’s speech was written. Most scenes were shot seven times and they went with the best take.
- I knew it was all shot in Los Angeles but I didn’t know they did it in six weeks during the end of 1982. I guessed it was 1983 but the movie sat for eight months since it was hard to get the right editors. David said it had to be put together like any other documentary and there were 52 hours of material on the cutting room floor.
- He did get to see Spinal Tap this year in Oakland, where he lives now but his character Viv was killed in a freak gas explosion visiting the grave of drummer Mick Shrimpton in 1992. Apparently, Viv was a keyboardist masquerading as a drummer.
Jeff and I got autographs plus some personal face time. He was a pleasure to talk to. David really enjoys meeting people who love the movie and he told me he didn’t know about its delayed success until the early Nineties.