Cirque ‘D’ Soleil? Tenacious D ready for New Year’s Eve

Tenacious D has been running a two-man trap, to borrow a basketball term, for nearly 30 years. The rock-comedy duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass has opened for Pearl Jam, Weezer and Beck.

Later, they were headliners with mockumentary band Spinal Tap opening (more on that relationship later).

Black and Gass were members of the experimental theater troupe The Actors Gang in L.A. when they formed Tenacious D in 1994. Dave Grohl played on their debut album, “Tenacious D.” The duo scored a Grammy Award for best metal performance for their cover of Dio’s “The Last in Line” from the 2014 tribute album “Ronnie James Dio — This Is Your Life.”

A pair of graybeards (for real) in the entertainment culture, Black and Gass headline Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Expect some “Viva Las Vegas,” as the guys have produced an online clip performing that song and referred to it in this recent back-and-forth:

Johnny Kats: Let’s just start with the entry-point question: What are your thoughts, collectively or individually, about Las Vegas?

Kyle Gass: Well, I mean it when I say, “I heart Vegas.” I do enjoy the city. I did enjoy poker a lot, hold ’em poker, as a young man. I had to drive to Vegas from California to play, and it was like a little subculture … I think it was the Riviera, and it was pretty wild. I’ve always loved the themed hotels, the fact that Vegas is an international destination, and wondering “What are they going to do next?”

How about you, Jack?

Jack Black: I was just trying to think of a song that captures it, like “New York, New York.” But the only one I can think of is that Elvis jam.

Yeah, “Viva Las Vegas.”

Black (singing): Bright light city, gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire!

Gass (singing the guitar part): Biddy-badda, da-da, ba-ding-ding!

Black: Kyle, can you be quiet, please? Where was I? I lost my train of thought.

Gass: I was just trying to accompany him.

Black: The thing about Vegas is it’s like an amusement park. They’ve tried to make it over the last few decades. It’s like, “Now it’s a place for the whole family! The mafia is no longer here!” It’s Walt Disney and a bunch of rich and people who care about families. But at the end of the day, it’s still a festival where everything is up for grabs. We’re talking gambling! We’re talking fire! We’re talking magic! It’s all danger, but also wrapped in adventure. It’s a very seductive town.”

Just listening to you guys, we could pitch a Cirque du Soleil show around Tenacious D. Get some acrobats and aerialists and put you in the middle of it.

Black: Wow! Now you are talking my lang-GUAGE! Do you know the Cirque du Soleil guy? Remember, “O,” Kyle?

Gass: Yes!

Black: What would ours be called?

Gass: “D.” That’s it, just “D.”

Black: If you could make that happen, you would get 2 percent.

I would take that 2 percent and donate it to aspiring musicians. I have to come back to your name, and if you’d indulge me on exactly how Tenacious D was chosen?

Black: We were knocking around names, and at our first show we were going to give the audience a choice by a show of hands and we would decide on our name. We had a few of them. Balboa’s Biblical Theater was in there. Responsive Chord was a front-runner.

Gass: Pets or Meat was one, from the Michael Moore documentary “Roger & Me” — that’s how far back we go.

Pets or Meat is great.

Black: Kyle, tell him who was in the audience that night, who was responsible for Pets or Meat.

Gass: Derek Smalls, yeah, Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap. Wait, wait. What’s his real name?

Harry Shearer.

Gass: He rose his hand for Pets or Meat. I think he just loves that movie. I don’t think he was saying we should be called Pets or Meat.

Black: We had already arrived at the decision that we were gonna be called Tenacious D, no matter what the show of hands were. We thought it was so funny.

We used to say ‘We’re playing some tenacious D’ when I played basketball in high school. It was around at that time.

Black: It’s basketball. It’s just fun to say “Tenacious D!” And at the time, there was Heavy D and the Boyz, a lot of “Ds” out there.

Gass: It was like, if you had a “D” at the end of your name, you were a hip-hop artist. So it had a couple of levels going.

Black: But the name was so (expletive) funny, because it was not a good name for a band. It’s only good on the court. But maybe it’s a metaphor.

Gass: Yeah, “We will bring our best game! We’re gonna try hard!”

Is there anything you’re working on now that you want to talk about?

Black: We have something we can’t talk about it because it’s a top-secret thing. It is so brilliant and so simple that everyone and their (expletive) Auntie Margaret would start doing their clone version of it. So we can’t talk …

Gass (laughs): Auntie Margaret …

This is a new album?

We have a six-year gestation period on all our albums. So there will be no D-wine until it’s D-time. But to be honest with you, we’ve booked some tours that I think are getting in the way. We’re using our brains and creativity and nervous energy about the next tour, like a greatest hits tour, when really we should be focusing on that next record.

What’s the format for Las Vegas, the New Year’s Eve show?

Gass: Well, we’ve got to give all the hits. I think if you’re closing out the end the year and start a new one, you’ve got to kind of treat it right, right?

Black: All bets are off in Vegas! Get it?

Gass: I see what you did there. Funny.

Black: No holds barred in Vegas!

Gass (snaps fingers): Keep ’em coming …

Black: And I’ll tell you why, because we bear the responsibility to bring in 2023 with literally every other New Year’s Eve concert in the world. And we want to come out on top.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.