Two musical legends made trips to New Orleans in March, but not for shows. Here’s why

Elton John and Paul McCartney make a big splash whenever they come to New Orleans for concerts.

But the two rock legends both slipped in and out of town in March without attracting much attention.

They each made a quick trip to New Orleans to film cameo appearances in the sequel to the 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” which is currently in production in New Orleans.

The original “Spinal Tap,” directed by Rob Reiner, starred Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as the bumbling members of a fictional British heavy metal band. The spoof of music documentaries and rock music clichés — from getting lost backstage to a comically miniature Stonehenge prop to an amplifier that famously cranked up all the way to 11 — struck a chord with music fans and musicians alike.

Forty years after the original film’s release, Reiner, McKean, Guest and Shearer have reunited to shoot the sequel in New Orleans, where Shearer lives much of the year.

Reiner revealed during a podcast appearance in November that both McCartney and Elton, plus Garth Brooks and other real-life stars, had agreed to appear in the sequel.

Sure enough, Elton took part in a Spinal Tap concert sequence shot at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena on March 16.

More than 1,000 extras had turned out the previous day to serve as the audience for a Spinal Tap concert. At the end of the long, grueling day of shooting, said one extra, Reiner came onstage and announced that Elton John would participate in the following day’s shoot.

That pretty much guaranteed most extras would show up again the next day.

Elton reportedly got way into the spirit of film, playing piano on a Spinal Tap song while in costume. He even performed his own stunt, a source said.

A week later, it was McCartney’s turn. Unlike Elton, he didn’t shoot a concert scene. Instead, his cameo was reportedly shot during a couple hours at a local film production studio.

During an interview in late November, Shearer, who was already well on his way to growing out his Derek Smalls character’s trademark bushy mustache/sideburn combination, said that he, McKean and Guest had recently spent a week in New Orleans rehearsing music for the Spinal Tap sequel.

Assuming McCartney and Elton’s footage doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor, that sequel will feature a couple of music’s biggest names.

Production is expected to wrap up in May.