MIM 7: That time I auditioned for Spinal Tap

Yes, this really happened, and there's photographic evidence to support it.

In October of 1991, I was a humble student attending the Dick Grove School of Music in Los Angles. One day a mysterious flyer appeared on the school bulletin board. It read simply, "Drummer died. Need new one. Must have no immediate family." and was accompanied by a telltale horned-skull graphic and a phone number.

My Spidey Sense tingling, I dialed the number to be greeted by a recorded message announcing that Spinal Tap would be holding auditions for a new drummer the following day, October 31st (Halloween). The location would be the east end zone of the L.A. Coliseum. 

I had grown up watching all the classic rock documentaries of the '70s, from The Song Remains the Same and The Kids Are Alright to Woodstock and Jimi Plays Berkeley. When it was released in 1984, This is Spinal Tap not only skewered these films brilliantly, but it also built on them by creating a fictitious band whose characters were so fully fleshed out that many people actually thought the band was real!

Spinal Tap quickly planted itself atop my list of all time favorite films. I watched it dozens of times, and memorized all the key lines, even some really obscure ones (like when keyboardist Viv Savage says, "Have a good time .... ALL the time. That's my philosophy, Marti," or when the white-face wearing catering manager Billy Crystal screams at a very young Dana Carvey, "Let's go kid, mime is money!").

I knew this audition was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I planned to go after it as hard as possible. I had just over 24 hours to woodshed the audition song (Tap's bass-heavy classic "Big Bottom"), throw together an appropriate rock wardrobe and get my ass to the Coliseum. For the full story of what happened that day, I invite you to listen to my audio account that was included in the Drummers Resource Podcast.

* Listen to my audio account of that "explosive" day HERE.
* See the pics of the event HERE.

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