It was Guest, in a Greenwich Village guitar store, who made a mental note of the wasted rocker with a migrating baguette down his pants. In their touring comedy-trio days, an incompetent promo guy really did bend over and plead, “Kick my ass. But as their wigs turn grey and lycra waistbands tighten, the ongoing activity of Spinal Tap, the band, is the most remarkable proof of the stupid/clever coin-toss. LoadingPimped up like rock’n’roll Halloween, they’ve shared stages and studios with bona fide metal monsters in awe of their legend. “The joke band is the only one that’s playing live,” one observer mentioned to Shearer on a 2001 arena date.