Our World Record
Attempt 2004
General Info
The idea to break the
World Record for the longest concert was Bob's
idea: " The idea came to him one
night a few years ago after the band played
at a party for 9 hours solid. He had imagined
the record would be around 24 hours, and began
to have second thoughts when he contacted Guinness
World RecordsTM and
they informed him the current record was 40
hours! However, he saw it as an excellent
way to raise funds for our charities and
have the satisfaction of having done something
no other band had done (hopefully...!).
The rest of the band, and all our friends and
supporters were extremely helpful in turning
a drunken idea into a reality!"
There were three
purposes for the event: to raise as much money
as possible for our causes, to break the World
Record for the longest concert ever, and to
inspire people to play, make or just enjoy music.
Music has given us a lot of pleasure over the
years, and we hoped that if we play for 48
hours, perhaps other people would manage to play
for an hour or two each week!
The
Rules
The world record for
the longest gig by a band currently stood at 40
hours, set by a band of 20 members in India.
The group John Jerome Sangamam played
from 21-23 September 2002, at St Montford Indoor
Stadium, Mylapore, Chennai, India. The
Grand Boys hoped to break this record and set a
new world record of 48 hours.
The band were allowed 15 minutes break
every 8 hours, and must have played continuously with
no more than 30 seconds between each song.
Each song must have been a recognisable tune,
and each member of the band would have to play to some
extent in each song.
The band would not be allowed to repeat the same song
within a 4 hour period.
The band would have to consist of 9 members, all
of whom must have started at the same time (ie., could
make attempt in ‘shifts’).
If a member of the band left the
stage or did not participate in a song, they
would have to retire from the attempt.
Four members of the band would have to be standing
by the end of the attempt for the record to
stand.
The Preparation
The band had been
practicing hard for the event since March 2003.
We practiced twice a week with the Sunday practice
lasting for around 4 hours. In January 2004,
we began practicing 3 times per week. Our
main drummer, Paul, played in two bands, so he
practiced 5 nights a weeks and sometimes played
gigs on the sixth. We told him he was a
lightweight for taking a day off! :o) We
also gigged occasionally on a Saturday night.
In between times we tried to sing and play as
often as possible, especially the guitarists to
harden up their fingers.
We obtained
dietary advice from a Nutrition expert, and the
band members began eating healthier and cutting
down on alcohol and caffeine.
Planning what we ate and drink at the Record
Attempt would be vital to any chance of success,
as we had to sustain our concentration levels
for the 48 hours to ensure we started the
songs within 30 seconds, and played them to a
reasonable standard throughout. The trick
was to try and keep our blood glucose levels
constant. This also meant no alcohol for
the band, which was unheard of at a Grand Boys
Gig!!!
Each member of the band
could play more than one instrument, so we
rotated around playing bass, guitar, drums, etc.
This gave fingers a rest from strings (which
cut through the skin eventually if played for too
long) and bums rests from seats (I was assured by
the drummers that playing for long periods was
painful on the rear!!). We also had a percussion section.
We tried to
minimise risk as much as possible.
Guinness World Records TM required us to have Professional Medical
Personnel present at all times, 2 witnesses, and
stewards to provide water, etc and to keep the
log book. We also tried to consider
every eventuality, ie. spare guitars, 2 drum
kits, spare amplifiers, people to change guitar
strings, spare PA, etc, to ensure that the music
kept playing for 48 hours!
The Venue
The
attempt took place on 20th -
22nd Feb 2004 in the Smiths Restaurant, Kerse
Road, Millhall, Stirling FK7 7LR (AKA The Cally)
just outside the city centre.
The Success
There
were tickets sold for the Friday night, and
tickets for the Saturday night. The
hall held around 180 people, so there were limited
tickets available. People
wandered in during the day, but could not stay
beyond 6pm without a ticket. The
attempt started on the Friday morning 10am, and
finished on Sunday morning 2.38am. We had broke the World Record by 2 hours and 38 minutes. We were too tired to celebrate! but we had an amazing feeling of achievement and very proud.
Updated 29th November 2009
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