Spinal Tap takes off the wigs

Twenty-five years ago, America discovered "one of England's loudest bands," courtesy of documentarian Marty DiBergi and his film, "This Is Spinal Tap."

It was all parody -- DiBergi was director Rob Reiner, and cohorts Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer played the heavy-metal musicians in Spinal Tap -- but for a fictional band, Spinal Tap has had a long afterlife.

The film gave birth to several catchphrases, including one -- "up to 11" -- that's made it into the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

There are Web sites devoted to the Tap, including at least one, http://tap-albums.s5.com/, that offers a complete discography of the fictional band's nonexistent albums.

And Guest, McKean and Shearer have never left their spandexed alter egos behind. The band reunited for a 1992 album, "Break Like the Wind," and again for a 2001 tour. For the latter, the opening act was another Guest-McKean-Shearer collaboration, the Folksmen from Guest's film "A Mighty Wind."

Now Shearer, McKean and Guest are hitting the road again, but not as Spinal Tap or the Folksmen. They're playing ... themselves.

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