Spinal Tap unplugged and unwigged

Sorry to let the cucumber out of the tinfoil, Spinal Tap fans: But it’s called the Unwigged & Unplugged tour for a reason. So, no, the amps will not go up to 11. And forget the ill-fated drummer.

“We don’t even have a drum machine,” says actor-comedian-musician Michael McKean, 61. “They’ve been known to explode.”

McKean and his longtime pals Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer are back on the road, sans Spandex but armed with career-spanning tunes — from Tap’s legendary “Big Bottom,” to “Blood on the Coal,” which was heard in folk-parody film “A Mighty Wind.”

Q: It’s an anniversary year for you guys, isn’t it?

A: It’s the 25th anniversary of the release of “This Is Spinal Tap,” but it’s the 30th anniversary of our appearance on “The T.V. Show,” a Rob Reiner pilot. We show a clip in the current show from that performance.

Q: What can folks expect at the show?

A: We are able to hop around the entire oeuvre, as the French put it. We do a Tap song, then a Folksmen song, then we do a song from “Guffman,” then we do a Harry Shearer song and then we do another Tap song.

Done au naturel, so to speak.

It’s pretty much who we really are. We’re very relaxed onstage, which is kind of how we want it at this stage in our lives. We’ve been having a great time every night.

Q: Spinal Tap is actually releasing a new album, “Back From the Dead,” next month. You revisit the songs from the film, right?

A: What you hear on the soundtrack album are not the songs that would have been if they were studio productions, so we rerecorded them. It’s revisionism, yes, but we are also making use of some of the sophisticated studio stuff that wasn’t around in 1982. We recorded “Jazz Oddyssey” at long last. And a couple of new versions — a reggae “Flower People,” “(Funky) Sex Farm” with horns and rapping and the whole catastrophe. And “Short and Sweet” — the joke is “Short and Sweet” can go on for half an hour with all the solos.

Q: How does it feel after all these years to have folks come out and see you guys?

A: A lot of it has to do with Chris’ work, his subsequent stuff — with “Guffman” through “For Your Consideration.” There’s always music in these films, a lot of original music. Obviously with “Guffman” and “Mighty Wind,” there was actual source music that we see happening on the screen. And I think that has helped. His work has expanded the demographic. We have accompanied minors right up to guys in their 70s and 80s.

Q: Do you still talk to David L. Lander, aka Squiggy from “Laverne and Shirley”? How is he doing with the MS?

A: He’s hanging in there. We’re actually trying to get an animated version of “Lenny & Squiggy” off the ground. We’re just starting to get designs together — it looks great. And whenever we get in a studio together and they turn a microphone on, it’s the same as it’s been since 1965 when we first started hanging together at school. He’s doing good in that department, but physically, he’s got his good days and bad days.