Legendary British heavy-metal pioneers Spinal Tap, authors of albums such as Smell the Glove and Shark Sandwich and stars of Rob Reiner's groundbreaking 1984 "rockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap - who bear a remarkable resemblance to American actors Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer - announced yesterday they will reunite for an acoustic tour that stops at Jones Hall May 1. Carrying the illusion even further, the trio is calling the tour "Unplugged and Unwigged: An Evening With Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer."
Opening will be the Folksmen, the popular 1960s acoustic group that appeared in Guest's 2003 film A Mighty Wind.
Spinal Tap is best known for its series of metal anthems such as "Big Bottom," "Stonehenge," "Lick My Love Pump," "(Tonight) I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight," "Sex Farm" and "Bitch School," as well as a succession of drummers who have all mysteriously died onstage. The music industry is rife with rumors that the band - who has not appeared together in public since performing at Live Earth in July 2007 - chose to do an acoustic tour because every established drummer on the planet either refuses to work with them or has already been killed off.
The band would not comment on those rumors at yesterday's press conference, but did say they plan to release an album, Spinal Tap's first since 1992's Break Like the Wind, which will feature "original studio versions" of the songs in This Is Spinal Tap as well as the new 20-minute guitar epic "Short and Sweet," Billboard reported.
Tickets for the Houston date go on sale 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster. See more information at www.unwigged.com or www.spinaltap.com.
