Spinal Tap Scenes 1-5 Summary

Scene 1

  • We start by meeting this Marty DiBergi guy, who tells us about a band that, for him, "redefined the word rock n' roll." Looks like three words to us, but who's counting?
  • Anyway, the band in question is a British group called Spinal Tap (hey, that's in the title!), and the release of their first album in six years has prompted Mr. DiBergi to produce and direct this very "rockumentary."
  • Usually we don't hear from the actual director in the opening moments of a film. Let's hope that doesn't get to be a thing.

Scene 2

  • We hear from a variety of Spinal Tap fans discussing what they love about the band. We can tell by the size of their hair that they definitely know what they're talking about.
  • Here they are—the band themselves. They certainly do look like a 70's rock group and/or a troupe of well-disguised comedians.
  • Another series of shots: props, lights and some awfully big woofers being loaded into a venue.
  • After hearing from one more fan who has clearly gone off her meds, it looks like the concert is ready to begin. (Warning: do not attempt to headbang if you have a pre-existing neck condition.)

Scene 3

  • We get our first taste of Spinal Tap. Hmm. Maybe it's an acquired taste.
  • We're intro'd to the band by way of captions. At least we'll know how to spell everything.
  • There's David St. Hubbins on lead guitar (he's the blond fellow), Nigel Tufnel, um, also on lead guitar (the one with the brown hair), and Derek Smalls on bass (the one who looks like he has the world's worst chocolate milk mustache).
  • There's also Viv Savage on keyboards and Mick Shrimpton on drums, but we don't recommend you get too attached to any drummers in this movie.

Scene 4

  • Marty DiBergi sits with the band outside some fancy-looking castle and grills them about the history of the group.
  • David and Nigel talk about how they used to be in different bands way back when, but decided to join forces. Maybe there weren't a lot of other offers on the table.

Scene 5

  • We're treated to a glimpse of some black and white footage of David and Nigel in the early days, performing "Gimme Some Money." You have to hand it to them—they sure knew how to connect with the masses.