The funniest fake band ever, Spinal Tap, is doing something that proves its own theory that, “There’s a fine line between clever and stupid.”

 Those nearly immortal lines were uttered by Spinal Tap singer/guitarist David St. Hubbins (aka actor/comedian/musician Michael McKean) in the greatest rockumentary/mockumentary ever made: This is Spinal Tap.

While that movie was one of the greatest, and perhaps most (unfortunately) accurate, portraits of rock’n'roll excess and dimwittedness ever made, the band’s decision to reunite in the real world is no laughing matter.

(Complete Spinal Tap Tour Dates after the jump)

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of This Is Spinal Tap, the (semi) fictional trio has announced plans for a reunion tour that finds the members appearing without their costumes and wigs and instead placing the focus on the music.

Um, Spinal Tap is hilarious, but the group hasn’t exactly been pumping out hit records. Which reminds us: the trio is also preparing to release a new Spinal Tap CD, for some reason.

The “Unwigged and Unplugged” tour hits 30 cities and finds actors/musicians McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest performing as themselves rather than their over-the-top Spinal Tap characters. In addition to stripped-down versions of Spinal Tap’s hair-metal hits, the trio will perform songs from A Mighty Wind, their Tap-like movie about folk music.

The good news is that even outside of their Tap personas, these guys will probably pretty entertaining. With ties to Saturday Night Live, SCTV and the Simpsons, their brand of comedy is hard-to-beat.

Of course we’d still rather see these guys in concert with Guest performing as his Spinal Tap character Nigel Tufnel. Tufnel is a rock god. Guest is boring little dude who is married to uber-annoying actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Who would you rather see unleash a wild guitar solo on “Stonehenge” or “Sex Farm”?

Yeah, that’s what we thought.

Fortunately, the band is planning a full-on Spinal Tap tour to coincide with the release of Tap’s new album. No word on whether the new album will be rock’n'roll, or some sort of jazz odyssey.

Spinal Tap Unwigged and Unplugged Tour Dates: Continue reading »