Marty DiBergi (seen above), a filmmaker who isn’t all that secure in his skills as a director, led a Q&A following a September 10 screening of “This Is Spinal Tap 2” at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California (livestreamed across the country) where Nigel, David, and Derek were also in attendance. In an effort to calm his nerves, DiBergi asked the band what they thought of the film, having just seen it for the first time, and that was a big mistake. David St. Hubbins was first out of the gate with a hot take:
“You should be ashamed of yourself. They say, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you again, because you did the same thing you did before.'”
Of course, Marty was somewhat taken aback, responding, “Really? Now I feel really bad.” David explained the reason for his negative perspective on the movie:
“Listen, I thought we were just living our lives, playing our gig, but you got all personal, and you start showing us. We don’t want to be seen like that. We’re vulnerable. We don’t want to be vulnerable.”
Marty retorted, “I’m just a documentary filmmaker. I’m a fly on the wall. I just put the camera where you guys are, and this is what happened. I don’t control what happens. You guys do that.” That’s when the gloves came off a bit, and Derek Smalls said:
“You were a fly on the floor.”
Pretty brutal. Though Derek added, “I will say this in your defense: You did show us getting to the stage this time.” However, Nigel, known for his modified amps, picked up that thread and piled back on the criticism:
“In your defense, I would say … nothing. Look, you’re supposed to be a professional, but he was always so confused. He was looking about when we were making the film, as if he didn’t know where to go.”
David chimed back in to add, “It was a bit familiar. There we were doing our best, and you’re turning our lives inside out. We’re not all that pretty on the inside. These days, we’re not all that pretty on the outside.”
I guess there’s just no pleasing some people, especially when those people are the subjects of a rock documentary sequel who don’t like seeing themselves in touch with their feelings. It probably didn’t help that the reunion concert ended with Elton John and the band being crushed by a larger Stonehenge prop, sending them all to the hospital with broken limbs. But you can’t really blame Marty DiBergi for that.
“Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues” is in theaters now.
