“He was very frightened, mostly from the volume. My new amplifiers now go to infinity, and I think that idea was very scary to him”: Nigel Tufnel had plenty of volume when he jammed with Joe Satriani, but “couldn't fathom” what the guitar hero was doing

Nigel Tufnel (left) and Joe Satriani perform onstage.

Though he left Spinal Tap in a huff before they began experimenting with jazz odysseys, Nigel Tufnel has plenty of musical range – just listen to the beautiful, classically influenced instrumental piano piece he performed (if I wrote the name of it here I might lose my job) in the classic film about his totally real band, This is Spinal Tap.

With that sort of versatility, and Tap's undisputed place in the halls of rock kings and queens, it makes sense that Tufnel once found himself sharing the stage with one of guitar's great virtuosos, Joe Satriani.