Five basses! Spinal Tap recruit Tal Wilkenfeld and Thundercat for bottom-heavy Jimmy Kimmel performance

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. ET and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. The guests for Monday, September 8 included Spinal Tap (Nigel Tufnel aka Christopher Guest, David St. Hubbins aka Michael McKean and Derek Smalls aka Harry Shearer) and Marty DiBergi (aka Rob Reiner) ("Spinal Tap II: The End Continues"), and musical guest Spinal Tap. (Disney/Randy Holmes) SPINAL TAP  (Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)

Spinal Tap celebrated their return with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Monday night (8 September 8) and it featured not one but five basses. What did they play? Well, could it be anything else but Big Bottom?

All three core members – Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls – played bass, alongside guests Tal Wilkenfeld and Thundercat. And what a fine array of models were on display – Tufnel plays a Music Man Bongo 4, St Hubbins is on an Epiphone Jack Casady signature model, Smalls is playing a Schecter Stiletto and Wilkenfeld has a Fender Precision.

Then there’s Thundercat’s double-necked Ibanez BTB, which, technically, makes it six basses in one band.

Spinal Tap – Big Bottom - YouTube Spinal Tap – Big Bottom - YouTube
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Also in the band were keyboard player CJ Vanston and their new drummer DD Crockett, who thankfully made it through the Kimmel performance unscathed.

Kimmel interviewed Mssrs Tufnel, Smalls and St Hubbins, along with their documentarian Marti Di Bergi, who got a little dig at President Trump into the conversation. When Kimmel was quizzing the band on their rider and whether it includes ice, Di Bergi said, to much applause: “We don’t like ICE to come backstage and take anybody away. These gentlemen are from the UK and they want to be able to go back there.”

Meanwhile, Nigel Tufnel revealed that he has a new amp, a distinct upgrade from his old one too, which, infamously, went up to 11. “The one I have now goes up to infinity. Marshall made it for me. It’s a special one,” he deadpanned.

As you probably know by now, the long-awaited sequel to the original film – Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is out this Friday (September 12), the same day as the band’s fourth album, also titled The End Continues.

Will Simpson
News and features writer

Will Simpson is a freelance music expert whose work has appeared in Classic Rock, Classic Pop, Guitarist and Total Guitar magazine. He is the author of 'Freedom Through Football: Inside Britain's Most Intrepid Sports Club' and his second book 'An American Cricket Odyssey' is due out in 2025

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