Duff McKagan Gets Stuck to the Stage – Real-Life ‘Spinal Tap’ Stories
When we started compiling real-life 'Spinal Tap' stories, we knew we'd have to ask at least one former member of Guns N' Roses to share, and Duff McKagan did not disappoint.
In honor of the classic mockumentary's 30th anniversary, we asked a bunch of our favorite rockers to reveal their own 'Tap'-style disasters, and McKagan obliged with a funny cautionary tale for any budding musicians prone to wearing ornamental duds. "My biggest Spinal Tap moment? I used to wear, like, big belts, and I had this one belt that had a massive buckle on it," he recalled. "We had this staging with Guns N Roses -- it was like grated metal staging, and I don't know what I was doing, but I went down and I was sprawled out on the stage for whatever reason."
You can probably guess what happened next. Remembering that his belt "had big crosses all the way around that came outside of the leather belt frame," McKagan listed the ingredients for a classic 'Spinal Tap' moment: "Grated stage, metal crosses, buckle, all this stuff." The next thing he knew, "I got stuck on the stage. I was trying to get up, and I couldn't, and I was playing -- we were mid-song. You can't unbuckle your belt and free yourself, 'cause you've got a bass and you've got stuff."
Fortunately, McKagan was rescued by his bass tech, who he described as "this grumpy guy" who came out swearing under his breath and freed him from his wardrobe malfunction. "But then I had to play without my rock belt for a song or two," lamented McKagain. "That was one Spinal Tap moment out of about 1,011."
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