MELBOURNE, Australia – Hundreds of bagpipers applied for a new world record on Wednesday, speaking loudly AC/DC rock 'n' roll classic “It's a Long Way to the Top.”
The eclectic performance, dubbed “The Great Melbourne Bagpipe”, took place at Melbourne's Federation Square, on Swanston Street, where the Australian hard rock band's 1976 video was filmed, in which they performed the hit on the back of a truck driving slowly through the city center as music blared from the speakers.
Federation Square is also a short walk from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where AC/DC will play their first Australian show in a decade on Wednesday. Guitarist Angus Young, 70, is the only member of the band to play on the truck and is performing on the latest Australian tour.
Thousands of spectators filled the square in anticipation of the world record attempt. Many of the 374 bagpipers had to squeeze through the crowd to the stage. According to the organizers, the oldest piper was 98 years old.
The bagpipers included Les Canfield and Kevin Conlon, two of the three members of the Rats of Tobruk Memorial Pipes and Drums who played with AC/DC on the truck 49 years ago.
“It doesn't occur to you at the time how big this event still is,” Canfield told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Now it’s one of the greatest things—probably the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Billed as world record holders, the on-demand bagpipers performed “Happy Birthday” followed by an impromptu “Amazing Grace” for the cheering crowd, many of whom used their phones to record the moment.
The Australian Book of Records, which has been certifying records since 2012, confirmed that the 374 pipers together broke the record set by 333 pipers in Bulgaria in 2012. Guinness Book of Recordswhich confirmed Bulgaria's record, told The Associated Press that it had not been asked to evaluate the record attempt in Melbourne.
Many of the enthusiastic spectators were wearing AC/DC T-shirts. When asked from the stage which of them would go to the concert after this, many raised their hands.
One AC/DC current A fan who didn't see the record set was 23-year-old Keegan Kohler, an independent electrician from Columbus, Ohio. He had been waiting outside the concert stadium since 4:50 a.m. to ensure he would be first in when the gates opened at 5 p.m. The bagpipe record was set nearby at 5:15 p.m.
Kohler saw AC/DC perform their Power Up Tour this year in Cleveland, Washington, Detroit and Pittsburgh, but expects the experience to be better in the band's home country. He will attend two shows in Melbourne and one in Sydney, the band's hometown.
“I think the audience in Australia will be much better than in the US,” he said. “I think it will be more intense, more head-turning, more excitement among the audience.”
Kohler also became reacquainted near the stadium with Steven Scott of Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple first met in line outside an AC/DC concert in Detroit.
Scott, a 33-year-old real estate agent, had seen the current tour of Europe and the US several times and wanted to see the band perform in Australia.
“I've always talked about wanting to see them here. This is the first opportunity to do it and maybe the last,” Scott said.
His fiancee Amber Thompson, a 31-year-old entertainer, said it was Scott's idea to travel 10,000 miles for the concert.
“I love it, but I probably wouldn't be here if I didn't know him,” she said, referring to Scott, whom she called a true fan.
