SPINAL TAP 35th Anniversary Reunion 4/27/19 NYC Full Q&A and Concert

On April 27, 2019 there was a 35th Anniversary screening of "This Is Spinal Tap" at the Beacon Theatre in NYC as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.  The movie was billed as including a post screening discussion with Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel), Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls) plus a musical performance.  Having never seen Spinal Tap live, I had to take advantage of this possible last chance.

A few minutes after 8pm, Rob Reiner was introduced and came out to welcome the crowd as well as McKean and Guest who were sitting in the audience.  He spoke for a couple of minutes letting the crowd know his favorite line from the film was "There's a fine line between stupid and clever" before introducing the flick.

The audience cheered during the concert scenes as if they were there in the crowd, but the loudest response of the night was when Nigel let us know his amp goes up to eleven!

When the movie ended, Rob Reiner came back out and introduced the three main cast members.  They each took a seat for a 20 minute talk which was half discussion and half audience Q&A.

I wasn't sure how cool security would be with filming and I wanted to make sure to get a video of at least one song (which ended up not being an issue - I filmed the whole concert portion - video link is below), so I decided to just audio record this segment keeping my phone out of site.

I missed about the first 2 minutes where the guys start by saying how young they look on screen which leads to how others in the movie have aged and specifically Paul Schaffer which leads to a story about the character he was based on.  

Here's a few time stamps if you care to listen to the audio at the link below:

• 00:00 starts in the middle of the story about Lou "Kick My Ass" Dennis
• 00:30 talking about early screening notes and making of the film
• 06:00 Real rock stars who auditioned (John Densmore of the Doors, Paul Stanley of Kiss, etc)
• Is it common knowledge that Paul Stanley auditioned for a role in Spinal Tap?  I've never heard this before.
• Audience questions start at the seven and a half minute mark:
• 07:30 "Was it based on Iron Maiden?" No, but they bring up the influences of Uriah Heep, Van Halen, Saxon and Black Sabbath
• 11:00 "Why was the cucumber wrapped in tin foil?"
• 12:30 "Where did they learn their British Accents?"
• 13:30 "What is the deal with the herpes sores subplot that was cut from the film?" with mention of Cherie Currie of the Runaways who played lead singer of The Dose in the cut segment.
• 15:00 "What are you favorite cut scenes from the film?"
• 17:00 Christopher Guest asks for one final question which turns to mayhem and they say thank you and go get their instruments.  That set is described below and yes, that is audio AND video

Here's the Discussion/Q&A audio:

The musical portion opened up with a "Celtic Blues" which led right into "Hell Hole".  Sure it would have been more awesome if it was electric, but I'll take unplugged Tap over no Tap any day.

"(Listen To The) Flower People" complete with excellent shushing was next.  This was followed with "Rainy Day Sun" introduced as the B-side to that excellent A-side.

The Nigel Tufnel penned "Clam Caravan" was next as it was explained the original title was "Calm Caravan" but there was a typo on the album and the song contains no clam references.

The first song Nigel and David ever wrote together, "All The Way Home," had the audience clapping along.

Before following up with "Big Bottom" the band explained how in the past they would invite all touring bassists in the area to join them on stage and they were most impressed with Robert Trujillo of Metallica and his bass playing stance which Harry Shearer demonstrated.  But for tonight they would just let Shearer's bass do the talking instrumental wise with a finger snapping jazzy sing along of the classic.  NOTE:  My camera stopped during this song and about 30 seconds of it is missing in the middle.

A stage hand brought out an extra microphone stand as the boys told the story of the last time they played the Beacon Theatre as Spinal Tap where they decided as a joke to perform as a folk band as the opening act for the Tap metal to follow, it didn't go over well with much of that audience.

They then introduced special guest Elvis Costello who shared that he made his Carnegie Hall debut along with Spinal Tap back in 2000. The quartet performed "Gimme Some Money" together.

The night ended with a performance of "Sex Farm."  Quite the blast and here's the video so you can all check it out:

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Oh Snap! The big hole in the Avengers plan in Endgame.

Let me start off by saying I am not going to give any spoilers related to who lives or dies in Avengers: Endgame.  I'm going to talk about what I feel is a huge hole in the Avengers' plan if it happens to succeed, but to play it safe, don't read this if you haven't seen the movie...although I suspect if you're reading a post about the movie, you already saw it...so read on if so and please prove me wrong. Maybe I missed something.

I saw the movie on Friday and I dug it, but a certain part has been annoying me since I left the theatre.

Going in we know at the end of Infinity War, Thanos snaps his fingers and half of all living creatures turn to dust and dissapear.  

We know going into Endgame that the remaining Avengers are going to want to fix that.  We know on some level that they are going to succeed because we've all seen the trailer for the new Spider-man movie coming out so you figure a whole bunch of other folks are going to come back from the dust too - maybe everyone. 

So again I'm assuming you saw the flick, so last chance to stop reading.  Okay, in the film the ability to put a plan into action happens 5 years after the snap. It's gonna involve the team splitting up and time traveling to the past to gather the 6 inifinity stones and if they can get them all, then they will snap and bring everyone back without erasing what has happened without them during the past 5 years.  So everyone that did not turn to dust has 5 years of age and experiences that will not be erased.

When the film does the 5 years later jump, before the action plan starts, basically this is what you learn:

• Everyone has lost at least someone important to them.  On average they should have lost half the people they interact with.
• Overall most of the exteriors they show look like things are in pretty good shape. With the exception of a major league baseball stadium. Evidently MLB could not continue so the stadiums rotted along with tons of cars left in the parking lot, but otherwise I guess they cleaned things up pretty good in 5 years with most people looking to be living in nice homes.
• While we know there is still pain and remorse, we know some people are moving on and going on dates again too.  
• Also Yakuza types are being bad in Japan again, so crime being back means money must be flowing.
• Electricity, cars, gas must all be good.  The Avengers are eating tacos like it's going out of style so all must be good in the food department too.
• We also see a large memorial to those lost in the snap has been created.  So new structures are being built.

That's about that sums up the changes we are directly shown that have occurred in the 5 years since the snap.  In all honestly, things aren't looking too bad.  Maybe Thanos was onto something.

So as we said before, we know Spider-man is coming back, so yeah, the Avengers succeed in getting the stones and they snap and immediately they get phone calls from loved ones who have been dust for 5 years so we know the snap worked.  Nice!  (I guess their cell phones were in their pockets and those turned to dust too, but luckily when they say undusted, their phones stayed charged)

Then Thanos comes to immediately crap on their parade.  A major battle ensues. Some live, some die and the battle ends and then we get to see more or less everyone is happy back with their snapped back loved ones and friends in high school with no major personal or societal fallout.  Sweet!

And that is lazy writing.  Trust me, I understand the movie is already over 3 hours and a film about the direct aftermath of the original snap (would be awesome by the way - and a way to bring back storylines with certain characters who perhaps did not fair so well in Endgame) could be 3 hours alone.  

But here's some of the snap scenarios I can't stop thinking about (and once you start thinking about them, there's really no end to the problems) - Where exactly are the people that were turned to dust going to reappear when the new snap happens?  

Logically wouldn't it be where they turned to dust?  If that's the case, then what about the people who were flying in airplanes, cruise ships, cars, roller coasters, etc?  The people who were walking in that park where the new memorial was put up, like exactly on the spot where the memorial now stands?   Or the folks who were in their 6th floor apartment in a building that has since been demolished?

Having them return in thin air or in a space that was previously thin air but now solid is gonna be messy.

But let's say when the new snap was done, they thought about that and had all bodies appear on ground safely somewhere maybe close to where they originally lived.

So let's take the folks who were in planes with their loved ones who didn't turn to dust.  How many of those planes crashed and everyone on board that wasn't dust dies because suddenly half the pilots and air traffic controllers became dust.  So now you're back five years in the future, your loved one is gone along with probably all your possessions.

Speaking of possessions, this would be even more true if you were basically living a single life - where's your house/apartment? Is someone else living in it legally?  Your car?  Your money (I wonder how your stock portfolio is doing if it still exists)?

Imagine if you're a pair of 16 year old teenage love birds, I'm sure some of Peter Parker's friends fall into this category.  Now you're 21 and your 16 year old love shows back up looking to make out.  Yikes!!

What if you were leader of the country or CEO of a business?  Do you immediately get your job back?  Does your country or company still exist?

Oh and there's this little problem, how are you suddenly going to feed and shelter a population that doubles overnight?

But I guess in the Marvel universe it all works out cause we know Peter Parker is going on his school trip to France soon and everything looks fine.

I probably just like to complain.  Thoughts?

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1980's Trivial Pursuit - WTF?! Michael Jackson, AIDS, and the Blarney Stone?!

This weekend I hit up a local Goodwill and along with some great bargain CD's, I saw this Trivial Pursuit "The 1980's" Replacement Card Set on the shelf for a few bucks and thought it might be fun for the next game night.

I see from the back of the box, this was released in 1989 and the six categories are:

• Personalities
• In the News
• That's Life
• Entertainment
• Sports & Leisure
• Wild Card

I was born in 1970 and most of my friends included in our game night are just about the same age.  In theory we should have at least heard of all the 3000 questions in this set, but I'm sure a good amount of these questions are the types of things that would have been easy to answer upon its release in 1989, but now will be almost impossible to remember; minor trivia lost to time.  

Before I bring this to game night, I figured I should check a couple of cards and make sure at least say 1/3 of them were general and memorable enough to respond to correctly in 2019 so we don't find ourselves tossing the box in the trash after 15 minutes.

I pulled one card and had to share.

The good news was I immediately knew the "That's Life" question.  I correctly guessed the "Sports & Leisure" question and I think if I thought about it for a few minutes I would have come up with the "Entertainment" question, I'm sure my friends would know others, so this seemed like a fun playable game, but what about that first question?!

I'm a big music fan and I was sure if any pop star said of Ireland's Blarney Stone "No way am I going to kiss that - I might get AIDS or something worse" that I surely would have remembered it.  So I had to flip over the card and check out the answer:

MICHAEL JACKSON?!?!

How would I have forgotten this?  I just spent a few minutes googling "Michael Jackson Blarney Stone", "AIDS Blarney Stone", "Michael Jackson AIDS Blarney Stone" as well as the quote and nothing comes up about this.  Does anyone remember this being even one of the many rumors about MJ in the 80's?  I know Jackson toured Ireland in 1988 and I don't think this quote to the press would have been a great way to move more tickets.

While Trivial Pursuit was incredibly huge in the mid 80's, I think Parker Brothers might have dodged a bullet here in 1989 when its popularity was waning.  Maybe MJ did say this and the quote was buried, otherwise I think Trivial Pursuit sold so few of these 80's editions that word never got to the King of Pop and thus a potential defamation lawsuit was avoided.

Too bad this question didn't come up when George Costanza played the Bubble Boy on Seinfeld, it would have made the Moors/Moops controversy seem like a non issue.

Anyway, I can't wait to play next game night!

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HD Video Review of 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony - March 29, 2019

Let's do a quick walk through of The 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that took place this past Friday night, March 29, 2019 in Brooklyn, NY at the Barclays Center

I shot about 15 HD vids that will walk us through some of the highlights of the night.  In addition there are some bonus videos I shot on Facebook Live that you can access by clicking the link and joining that page below.

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The night started with a performance by Stevie Nicks opening with "Stand Back"

Next up she said she would have a special guest coming out and she started to play "Leather and Lace" and Don Henley of the Eagles walked out to perform his part of the duet.

Stevie finished her set and was inducted by Harry Styles.  Following this David Byrne was announced and he inducted Radiohead.  Here's his full induction speech:

Only Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway of Radiohead attended and here is there full acceptance speech.  There was no performance.

Simon LeBon and John Taylor of Duran Duran came out next to induct Roxy Music.  Here is their full induction speech.

Roxy Music performed and here is Love Is The Drug, More Than This, Avalon, and Editions of You from their set

Little Steven Van Zandt was next up to induct the 6 songs of the year.  No video of this.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was next up to induct The Cure.  Here's the full induction speech.

And here is The Cure performing the opening song of their set, "Shake Dog Shake"

Janelle Monae came out next to induct Janet Jackson.  Janet did not perform.  I have two snippets of Janet's acceptance speech.  The first is about a minute long towards the beginning of the speech.

And here's the last 2 minutes of Janet's acceptance speech

Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles then inducted The Zombies.  Here's video of the Zombies performing "Tell Her No" from their set

Brian May of Queen then came out to induct Def Leppard.  Here is his full induction speech

After their acceptance speech, Def Leppard started their set with Hysteria

After Def Leppard's 4 song set, some more microphones were set up and Def Leppard returned to the stage with Brian May, members of Roxy Music and The Zombies, Susanna Hoffs, Little Steven and Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople to end the night with "All The You Dudes"

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Click any photos to enlarge them to full screen.  Also follow on twitter @MostPeopleBlank  and subscribe to our YouTube channel if you liked any of the videos.  Then, of course, as always - Rock on and Enjoy - Paul