<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a minute into my interview with Spinal Tap and I\u2019ve already angered vocalist David St. Hubbins. Sitting down with the rock trio, which includes lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel and bassist Derek Smalls, I mention what an honor it is to speak to the legendary group.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust slow your roll,\u201d Tap\u2019s frontman barks. \u201cYou don\u2019t know it\u2019s a real honor until you start. So start, and you\u2019ll find out if it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not an auspicious beginning to an hour-long conversation with England\u2019s loudest and most punctual band. But a bit of testiness is understandable. On this late July morning at Studio 1 Culver, Tap begins its promotional duties for the long-awaited sequel to 1984\u2019s \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap,\u201d the documentary that unwittingly revitalized the pioneering metal group\u2019s career. The world is wondering if lightning will strike twice, so a lot is on the line for Tap. In fact, you can feel the tension as video crews and production personnel dart anxiously through the cavernous studio.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, I had separately seen each of the band members preparing for our interview, which was to be in character. Michael McKean, 77, sat in a makeup chair, eyes closed, as the wig that transforms him into St. Hubbins was being fussed over. I accidentally bumped into Harry Shearer, 81, in a conference room, not yet fully decked out as Smalls. And, later, Christopher Guest, 77, was spotted pacing around as Tufnel, speaking in the axman\u2019s jabbing working-class English accent to an assistant.<\/p>\n
Now, though, as we all sit together in this quiet side room, the guys are fully Tapped in as the fictional band members, focused on the expectations surrounding this forthcoming film. Back in 1984, director Marty DiBergi (better known as Rob Reiner) chronicled the trio during their disastrous American tour, one that seemed to signal the group\u2019s death knell. Instead, Spinal Tap have enjoyed many afterlives, occasionally reuniting before dissolving into acrimony once again.<\/p>\n
Consequently, there\u2019s plenty of fan curiosity about \u201cSpinal Tap II: The End Continues\u201d (opening Sept. 12), which follows the behind-the-scenes preparations for Tap\u2019s latest \u2014 and maybe last? \u2014 comeback show, the group\u2019s first public performance since 2009. It should be a triumphant moment, but there\u2019s one problem: DiBergi has yet to show them the movie.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarty\u2019s hiding something,\u201d Smalls says, concerned. He looks to his bandmates for reassurance, his soulful eyes framed by his still fabulously bushy eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about that,\u201d replies St. Hubbins, trying to stay positive. Even all these years later, he\u2019s a natural leader hoping to keep this boat from capsizing.\u201cThe first film didn\u2019t really portray us in the best light. But I still think it was from a good place. I don\u2019t think he was setting out to do anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he managed it, somehow,\u201d Tufnel chimes in. He seems grumpy, like he\u2019s not entirely happy to be here.<\/p>\n
In a separate Zoom interview, DiBergi explains why he\u2019s dragging his feet: He\u2019s nervous how Tap will respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were very upset with the way I portrayed them,\u201d he tells me. \u201cI thought I showed them in a good light but I guess they felt that I showed too many of the warts and not enough of the clear skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed the guys are still salty about how they came off in \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap.\u201d Smalls, for one, is tired of people making fun of them for getting lost on the way to the stage during that infamous Cleveland show.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany<\/i> times during that tour, we got to the stage,\u201d Smalls points out, proudly.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as an addendum,\u201d St. Hubbins adds, \u201cif Marty had the information \u2014 \u2018Oh, you want to go through this door\u2019 \u2014 he could have told us.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the mighty musical force behind such stone-cold bangers as \u201cBig Bottom\u201d and \u201cSex Farm\u201d weren\u2019t thrilled at how they were portrayed in the first film, they will not be pleased to learn that, 41 years later, they continue to be captured exhibiting hopelessly moronic behavior. (One of Smalls\u2019 musical contributions to the new film is a song titled \u201cRockin\u2019 in the Urn,\u201d which is about head-banging after cremation.)<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s less expected are the faintest hints of maturity in a band celebrated for stuffing its trousers and mistaking being sexist for being sexy. Have the guys who once wrote \u201cBitch School\u201d finally become enlightened?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, certainly they\u2019ve changed physically,\u201d DiBergi tells me. \u201cThey\u2019re in their 70s now. But as far as their music and their outlook on life, I didn\u2019t see a whole lot of growth there. I talked to their promoter. He said that he was surprised at how little they had grown emotionally or musically. They did grow wrinkles on their face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noticeably, none of the bandmates sit closely together in the room, each in his own chair in a circle staring at one another. Where once they were garish young rockers buried under mascara, now they are garish older rockers, desperately hanging onto their youth. St. Hubbins\u2019 hair is bleached blond, while Tufnel\u2019s makeup does nothing to hide the years. Smalls\u2019 mustache still looks magnificent. The atmosphere is cordial, if not exactly warm.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpinal Tap II\u201d reveals that they now live in different parts of the globe \u2014 St. Hubbins in Morro Bay, Calif.; Tufnel in Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northern England; Smalls in London \u2014 and haven\u2019t spoken since the last comeback tour. Still, they try to be philosophical about the unspoken friction between them.<\/p>\n