Forget Champagne, Spinal Tap Needs Aspercreme

The backstage rider demands of a septuagenarian band

Let’s turn the dry humor and nostalgia factor up to 11.

The members of Spinal Tap—Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer—explain their backstage rider demands in a cute spot from The Martin Agency.

They’ve been hopping around with guitars strapped to their backs since the ’60s. And that feels like “aw!” After applying some Aspercreme, it still feels like “aw!”—but in a good way.

The work ties in with Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, the upcoming sequel to the cult classic that dropped 41 years ago. Rob Reiner, who directed both movies, riffs with the Tappers in classic ST fashion.

Dig the relaxed tone and largely improvised banter, true to the Spinal Tap style several generations have come to know and love.

Old rockers never die. They just launch endless farewell tours. And Aspercreme soothes the aches and pains of too many “Stonehenge” encores.

Leaning into the cast’s improv skills “meant changing our creative process from writing prescriptive scripts to focus on setting the premise, identifying the comedic boundaries and feeding the guys some well-timed prompts,” Martin CD Graham Davis tells Muse.

“It’s a big leap of faith for a client to agree to. But they completely trusted the vision and were flexible every step of the way.”

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