30 June 2009 (gig)
01 July 2009
IN THE infamous words of the band themselves..."tonight we're gonna rock it, tonight we're gonna rock it - TONIGHT!"
And boy, rock it they did.
For a spoof rock outfit, for whom acting is their main profession, anyone who'd never witnessed the legendary Spinal Tap until tonight would have been hard pushed to believe they were not a real rock band.
Then again, in then eyes of the people that have known and loved them since their 1984 (if you will) "rockumentary", This Is Spinal Tap, they will always be considered among one of the greatest rock bands ever.
Twenty five years on, they may be wrinklier and paunchier but the youthful energy has yet to elude Nigel Tufnell (Christopher Guest), David St Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), as they kept the songs flowing, the hips shaking and the heads banging for two hours.
Not bad for a three-piece now in their early 60s that just an hour earlier had also provided the support entertainment for the night in the guide of The Folksmen.
The spoof folk band - Mark Shubb, played by Shearer, Alan Barrows, played by Guest, and McKean as Jerry Palter they warmed up the Wembley crowd with songs such as A Mighty Wind, taken from the film of the same name, and a wonderful country folk rendition of the Rolling Stones hit, Start Me Up.
A quick dash backstage and gone were the chinos, striped shirts, denim skirt and heels (Mark Shubb is still dressing as a woman) and on came the the tight-jeanned, t-shirted, long-haired rockers in all their glory.
The Tap were back and ready to rock.
From the moment they started with their usual opening track Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight, they provided a perfect blend of hilarity and rock, as the die-hard fans sang and laughed along loudly to their classic and beloved songs such as Hell Hole, Rock and Roll Creation, Sex Farm and - our favourite of the evening - Big Bottom.
And of course, despite McKean's well-known and well-worn phrase that "no, we're not gonna f***ing do Stonehenge", they knew we wouldn't be satisfied without the ode to the ancient Druids and their Pipes of Pan, complete with two dancing dwarfs, who this time weren't in danger of crushing anything, as a giant inflatable Stonehenge monument loomed over them.
After a couple more rousing and heavy thumping songs, it was back on for two encores, with special guests Keith Emmerson on keyboards and former Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins.
I personally had waited 21 years for this and I wasn't left disappointed, even if my cheeks and jaw ached from the permanent grin on my face throughout the entire performance.
If I have to wait another two decades to see this again, then so be it. But one thing was for sure - I came away feeling like I truly had captured the sights, the sounds, the smells of this hard-working rock band.
Long may they reign.
