Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight: Spinal Tap Reveal Song Secrets

80s legends Spinal Tap are currently on tour, performing special acoustic gigs across the country for their drooling fan base.

80s legends Spinal Tap are currently on tour, performing special acoustic gigs across the country for their drooling fan base.

Actually, that’s not true — the actors who play Spinal Tap are on tour, and they’re not even trying to hide it.

Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest, the three geniuses behind the hapless metal band, have launched “Unwigged and Unplugged,” where the trio are playing stripped-down versions of Tap songs, plus ones from Guests’ films Waiting For Guffman and A Mighty Wind. The band recently spoke with the Onion’s AV club, breaking down the basics behind crowd-pleasers like “Hell Hole” “Big Bottom,” and “(Listen) To the Flower People.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”

MM: We needed an opening number. I wanted to write something which was not exactly heavy metal, but had a hard-rock shuffle feel. And lyrically, something that would trumpet the astounding manhood of the singer.

If you’re a Tap fan, you have to check it out.

Here are the remaining Unwigged & Unplugged tour dates:

April 29: Denver (Paramount Theatre)
May 1: Houston, Texas (Jesse H, Jones Hall)
May 2: Dallas (Nokia Theatre)
May 4: Jacksonville, Fla.     Florida Theatre)
May 5: Miami (The Fillmore)
May 6: Orlando, Fla, (Hard Rock Live)
May 8: St. Petersburg, Fla. (Mahaffey Theatre)
May 9: Atlanta (Fox Theatre)
May 10: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)
May 12: Baltimore  (Lyric Opera House)
May 13: Washington, D.C. (Warner Theatre)
May 14: Philadelphia (Keswick Theatre)
May 17: Columbus, Ohio (Palace Theatre)
May 19: Cleveland, Ohio (State Theatre)
May 21: Toronto (Massey Hall)
May 22: Mashantucket, Conn.     (MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods)
May 23: Boston (The Wilbur Theatre)
May 24: Atlantic City, N.J. (Music Box at The Borgata)
May 26: New York (Beacon Theatre)
May 29: Detroit (Fox Theatre)
May 30: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)
May 31: Milwaukee, Wis. (Riverside Theatre)