Spinal Tappers

"Hey dude, y'gotta be kidding me man..."
"Whow, this track rocks!"

As a Tapper, you live your life for the music. There's only one kind of music you're into - heavy metal. You've got all the tee-shirts, you've been to every 'final' gig, and your girlfriend is a rock chick. Doing all this makes you feel a part of Tapper culture. You spend most of your time with your friends, either at the venue of a great concert you all went to, or at each others houses.

The music is the thing it's all about. You own every album by all your favourite bands, including the special edition LP which, if played at high enough speeds, causes an eery whining sound which makes you pass out. You all love the riots after gigs - they're part of the thing. You live differently to everyone else, and you like it that way. Your mum may not understand the hundreds of posters lining your bedroom walls, with the images of death, destruction and the occassional guitar - but your friends do. And that's what counts.

What You Look Like

Most Tappers wear similar outfits, almost like a uniform. At the same time, there's no set pattern or fashion as far as clothes go. If you have a particular allegiance to one band (you've loved Gory Death since they massacred twelve civilians at the '25 gig), most of your gear will include references to them, in the form of patches, tattoos etc. Otherwise, you'll wear a neutral outfit, with jeans, a rock shirt, cool trainers and maybe a baseball cap.

Some go in for old-style leathers, but they're few and far between. Hey man, this is 2027, not 1997.

SubCulture

The centrepiece of Tapper culture is the festival. Coming once or twice a year, this is where all Tappers gather for an orgy of music and beer. All the top bands play, but you're usually too far out of it to notice. At the festival, you get no hassle from the cops, or anyone else for that matter - because it's your place, the place to be.

The rest of the year, you meet up in specialist clubs and bars to discuss the latest music and get drunk. If a gig is on, you'll go in groups and bottle anyone who's bad. You remember the time you caught Steve DeathMaster form Lord of Death on the side of the head with a beer bottle full of piss, because he'd played real bad. That summed you up. You live for the moment, for now.

Belonging

You have a strong sense of togetherness with all other Tappers. No-one will admit this because it's way too uncool, but really you've only got each other to rely on. No-one else understands why you like each other so much.

All Tappers love a good pitched battle, and come together if another YoGang is inviting one. If an individual is being given stick, you can be sure a few of the big Tappers will come to his side to sort the problem out. Just think of it - seven rock dudes with nunchuks, looking pretty annoyed with you. Euhh. As DeathBoy Rampage once said, "he who is the lesser needs a chainsaw behind his back".

Or something.

Allies & Enemies

You have something in common with the GoGangers, but more with the BoardPunks. Most like the same music as you, and live much the same way. Sometimes you'll fight side-by-side in the muddy fields, ignoring the stench of piss and mud, just enjoying the moment while you've got it.

Sometimes the Guardians try to disrupt your gigs, so you have the occassional conflict - nothing too serious.

Slang

Rock : any good music
Far out : on drugs
Mad : the way you think
Spawn : a bad band
Dunk : to hurl piss bottles at the Spawn of Satan
Knobber : an insult
Slowboy : doesn't like heavy metal

YoGang Skill: This is Spinal Tap (EMP/REF)

The skill of living life to the max while you can. You know that in 10 years, you'll be pretty much past it, so you do everything now. The EMP side covers your knowledge of the customs and practices of Tapper culture - meetings, music, gigs, anything like that. You can convince people that your favourite band are the best, and discuss in length the merits of the last big festival.

The REF side covers your physical skill in dealing with the parts of Tapper culture that require sorting out. Use it for battles at gigs, when you don't want to kill the opposition fans, just humiliate them a bit. You can fill a bottle in under 10 seconds, and make it spin to the singer with maximum spray effect. And best of all, you can leap from the stage into fans arms with no fear of injury.

If You're a Spinal Tapper

Pick four things...

Gig diary
Favourite bands rare tee-shirt
2 tickets to next big festival
Seat in top rock club
Guitar
Headphones
Synthesizer

"Let's....rock!"
"Du-du du du du du du duuuuu, du-du du du...."