A gathering of 374 bagpipers set a world record in Melbourne, where they paid tribute to Aussie legends AC/DC with a massive performance of the bagpipe-laden anthem “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).”
“The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash” took place Wednesday afternoon in Melbourne’s Federation Square — near the location of AC/DC’s 1976 film clip in which they played the song on the back of a flatbed truck driving through traffic.
Among the bagpipers on Wednesday were Les Kenfield and Kevin Conlon, two of the three members of Rats of Tobruk Memorial Pipes and Drums who played with AC/DC on that truck 49 years ago. Thousands of spectators were also on hand for the record-breaking event.
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“It didn’t strike you at the time how big this event is until now,” Kenfield told Australian Broadcasting Corp (via the Associated Press). “Now it’s one of the greatest things — probably the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
The Melbourne gathering broke the previous record of 333 bagpipers set in May 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Kenfield told ABC News Australia that he hopes the publicity from the event will revive interest in piping and provide a jolt to the bagpipe community.
“Piping is really a dying art, young kids don’t really want to play, [whether] it’s too difficult or whatever reasons,” he said. “We’re getting old. In my band, if everyone over 70 resigned, there would be no band left.”
Campbell Wilson, senior pipe major of the City of Melbourne Highland Pipe Band, was one of the organizers of the world record attempt, helping bring together bands of bagpipers that had been practicing for weeks leading up to the event.
“The biggest challenge is absolutely getting everybody to play in tune because bagpipes are essentially four instruments in one,” Wilson told ABC News Australia.
AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” features arguably the most prominent use of bagpipes in rock music history. Revisit the original music video and watch a clip from Wednesday’s “Bagpipe Bash” below.
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