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by Klaus Kinski
Unwigged & Unplugged & Elvis Costello @ the Beacon - 5/26/09 (andyg_flickr)
Last night (5/26) I caught the first of two performances of UNWIGGED & UNPLUGGED: An Evening with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer at the gorgeously restored Beacon Theater. As much as I love (and cannot imagine a life without) the music-centric films This Is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and Waiting For Guffman, the thought of an acoustic, out of character, 'greatest hits' set initially struck me as crass commercialism at its worst. And, hell, maybe it was crass commercialism at it's worst; but holy moly if those dudes didn't slap the smug, cross-armed look off my face within the first five chords.
Their re-orchestrations of Tap classics to fit a folk mold were awe-inspiring works of genius. Highlights from the set included Hell Hole, Saucy Jack, The Bulging River, Stonehenge, Start Me Up, A Mighty Wind, Eat At Joes, and Sex Farm. But the major holy shitballs moment of the evening was when the trio backed up ELVIS COSTELLO for an extremely ballsy rendition of Gimme Some Money. The event wasn't without its minor clams though. I felt that the show was about 30 minutes too long and that the stage banter was at times too long winded, self-indulgent, dated, and often unfunny (ie, poking fun at the lack of music played on MTV). That said, these guys can really play and sing and for the most part they had me busting a gut and admiring their very real skills as musicians. Add to that the brief video interludes featuring vintage, rare Tap footage and a couple of fan-made music videos, and I had myself one helluva time.
While looking around for a setlist of the show, I came across this livejournal entry that talks about a different Unwigged show, but nonetheless pretty closely describes the basic format and pacing of the Beacon show I saw. Catch them at the same venue, again tonight (5/27). Some videos from last night below...
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that show definitely brought out the duty in my soul
Posted by hipster replacement | May 27, 2009 8:03 PM
Klaus returns!
Posted by Anonymous | May 27, 2009 8:40 PM
Setlist from Seattle show (4/20):
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/spinal-tap-2009-2/
* opening song with lyrics of “hair as brown as the finest stew”
* Hell Hole
* Never Did No Wanderin’ (CG on mandolin)
* Clam Caravan (CG on didgeridoo at end)
* Bitch School
* Loco Man
* Waiting for Guffman’s This Bulging River
* Reading of the “Spinal Tap NBC Memo”
* All the Way Home
* Blood on the Coal
* (Listen to Me) the Flower People
* Cornwine
* The Majesty of Rock
* Harry Shearer’s Elvis parody All Backed Up
* Stonehenge
* “Aussie YouTube” snippet
* Q&A session
* Start Me Up (Rolling Stones cover as in A Mighty Wind)
* Cups and Cakes
* “Lego Video” snippet
* Old Joe’s Place
* Big Bottom
* The Good Book Song
* Rainy Day Sun
* Sex Farm
* Encore: Gimme Some Money
* A Mighty Wind
* The Colors of My Life
Posted by posty mcposterton | May 27, 2009 11:41 PM
Saucy Jack!
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 12:06 AM
Did they do Saucy Jack on 05/26? They announced it as an "unplugged world premiere" tonight (05/27), but I never trust stage banter. They weren't doing it as recently as a couple of weeks ago.
Posted by Cody | May 28, 2009 1:12 AM
First! I mean, First? yes, they did do it on the 26th.
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 2:03 AM
Saucy Jack!
Posted by lily | May 28, 2009 8:19 AM
That Seattle setlist is almost identical to last night, except Gimme some money was played much earlier, with Elvis Costello, McKean's wife sang on Good Book, followed by Kiss at the end of the Rainbow, and the first encore was All the Way Home.
Oh, also, one of the Roche Sisters dueted with Guest on Guffman's Penny for your thoughts. Seeing Guest singing as Corky St. Clair was definitely a highlight.
And they played Saucy Jack too.
Great, great show. I do have to mention though that Shearer's Elvis song "All Blocked Up" was an unfunny embarrasment, and stuck out for not fitting in with the rest of the show. I think the whole audience squirmed during that one.
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 10:14 AM
was it the entire saucy jack opera, or just the overture?
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 10:31 AM
+11
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 11:52 AM
+11, good one. Very clever. Because that's like in the movie, with the amps going to 11 and all. Very droll. 11, I get it. Like, one more than 10. "Mine goes to 11."
Well played my witty friend, well played.
+11, indeed.
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 12:04 PM
pretty sure 12:04 needs a job. anyone with the time to write such a stupid, weak comment is just so clearly a nobody
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 12:13 PM
12:13, you sound suspiciously like 11:52.
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 12:30 PM
[x] 11:52 left a pretty quick and amusing comment.
[ ] 12:04 can craft witty insults about others' supposed lack of wit.
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 1:05 PM
"LATE into their set at the Warner Theater here on a recent Wednesday night, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, the members of the comedy music groups Spinal Tap and the Folksmen, put down their guitars and offered to take questions from the audience. “Especially questions that don’t involve the number 11,” Mr. Shearer announced."
- ny times 5/21/09
Posted by timey | May 28, 2009 1:30 PM
There's a fine line between clover and stew-peas...
fuck, i blew the line.
11
Posted by Anonymous | May 28, 2009 1:43 PM
really great! i like their performance!
Posted by swf2avi | December 8, 2009 4:17 AM