Spinal Tap's (from left) Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest played unplugged versions of their songs.
(Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)
MUSIC REVIEW
They still Tap into the fun
Spinal Tap's (from left) Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest played unplugged versions of their songs.
(Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)
The 1984 improv comedy "This Is Spinal Tap" contributed dozens of classic one-liners to the comedy and rock 'n' roll lexicons. While cranking up the volume was one of the film's hallmark jokes, the trio of comic actor-musicians who play the fictional British metal band didn't need to go to 11 Saturday night to simultaneously tickle the funny bones and please the ears of the devoted sold-out crowd at the Wilbur Theatre.
Instead, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, with keyboard assistance from C. Jeffrey Vanston, offered two low-key but sidesplitting hours they have dubbed "Unwigged and Unplugged."
This genius move served two functions. It spared them from wriggling back into the tight trousers of yore and allowed them to expand the set into a lovingly curated tribute to all the funny music they've made together. That included all the Spinal Tap/Thamesmen biggies ("Hellhole," "Stonehenge," "Gimme Some Money"), tunes from the group's other alter ego, the Folksmen, from Guest's 2003 film, "A Mighty Wind," and an assortment of odds and ends including a track from Spinal Tap's forthcoming album, "Back From the Dead."
In addition to snappy between-song shtick and classic video footage, the group invited a few friends to help out, including a dancer who offered "modern" accompaniment to a beatnik take on "Big Bottom," and McKean's wife, actress Annette O'Toole, who lent her pipes to two tunes including "Mighty Wind" Oscar nominee, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow."
Musically, the trio, all in their early 60s, was impressive. With its close harmonies, mournful lyrics, and dark strumming, a song like "Blood on the Coal," in which a train wreck happens at a coal mine, could easily pass as a real folk song. And the same held true for all their spoofs from calypso ("Loco-Man") to psychedelia ("Listen to the Flower People"). The show may not have been loud but, comically, the group definitely took it to the max.
Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com 
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