The World Record
Attempt - General Info
The idea to break the
World Record for the longest concert is 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 we'll
have the satisfaction of having done something
no other band has done (hopefully...!).
The rest of the band, and all our friends and
supporters have been extremely helpful in turning
a drunken idea into reality!"
There are three
purposes to the event: to raise as much money
as possible for our causes, to break the World
Record for the longest concert ever, and to
inspirepeople to play, make or just enjoy music.
Music has given us a lot of pleasure over the
years, and we hope that if we can play for 48
hours, perhaps other people can manage to play
for an hour or two each week!
The
Rules
The world record for
the longest gig by a band currently stands 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 hope to break this record and set a
new world record of 48 hours.
The band are allowed 15 minutes break
every 8 hours, and must play continuously with
no more than 30 seconds between each song.
Each song must be a recognisable tune,
and each member of the band must play to some
extent in each song.
The band cannot repeat the same song
within a 4 hour period.
The band will consist of 9 members, all
of whom must start at the same time (ie., cannot
make attempt in ‘shifts’).
When a member of the band leaves the
stage or does not participate in a song, they
must retire from the attempt.
Four members of the band must be standing
by the end of the attempt for the record to
stand.
Venue
The
attempt will take place on 20th -
22nd Feb 2004 in the Smiths Restaurant, Kerse
Road, Millhall, Stirling FK7 7LR (AKA The Cally)
just outside the city centre.
There
will be tickets sold for the Friday night, and
tickets for the Saturday night. The
hall holds around 180 people, so there are limited
tickets available.
People
can wonder in during the day, but can't stay
beyond 6pm without a ticket. The
attempt will start on the Friday morning, and
hopefully finish on Sunday morning. Each
Friday and Saturday night, a mini bus will run
back and forward from the venue to the Stirling
town centre Train Station (although it is only
a 10 minute walk).
Preparation
The band have been
practicing hard for the event since March 2003.
We play twice a week with the Sunday practice
lasting for around 4 hours. As of January,
we are practicing 3 times per week. Our
main drummer, Paul, plays in two bands, so he
practices 5 nights a weeks and sometimes plays
gigs on the sixth. We told him he was a
lightweight for taking a day off! :o) We
also gig occasionally on a Saturday night.
In between times we try to sing and play as
often as possible, especially the guitarists to
harden up our fingers.
We have obtained
dietary advice from a Nutrition expert, and the
band members are eating healthier and cutting
down on alcohol and caffeine.
Planning what we eat and drink at the Record
Attempt will be vital to any chance of success,
as we need to sustain our concentration levels
for the 48 hours to ensure we can start the
songs within 30 seconds, and play them to a
reasonable standard throughout. The trick
is to try and keep our blood glucose levels
constant. This also means no alcohol for
the band, which is unheard of at a Grand Boys
Gig!!!
Each member of the band
can play more than one instrument, so we will
rotate round playing bass, guitar, drums, etc.
This gives fingers a rest from strings (which
cut through the skin eventually if played for to
long) and bums rests from seats (I'm assured by
the drummers that playing for long periods is
painful on the rear!!). We are also going to
have a percussion section.
We have tried to
minimise risk as much as possible.
Guinness World Records TM
require 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 have also tried to consider
every eventuality, ie. spare guitars, 2 drum
kits, spare amplifiers, people to change guitar
strings, spare PA, etc, to ensure the music
keeps playing for 48 hours!
