Bagpipers claim world record with AC/DC’s ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top’

More than 370 bagpipers gathered in Melbourne’s Federation Square to break the Guinness World Record for the most pipers playing together at the same location.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Hundreds of bagpipers claimed a new world record on Wednesday by belting out AC/DC’s rock and roll classic “It’s a Long Way to the Top.”

Billed as “The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash,” the eclectic performance took place in Melbourne’s Federation Square, on Swanston Street, which was the scene of the Australian hard rock band’s 1976 film clip in which they played the hit on the back of a flatbed truck traveling slowly through downtown traffic with music blaring from speakers.

Federation Square is also a short stroll from the Melbourne Cricket Ground where AC/DC is scheduled to play their first Australian gig in a decade on Wednesday. Guitarist Angus Young, 70, is the only band member who played on the truck and is performing on the latest Australian tour.

Thousands of spectators crammed the square for the world record attempt. Many of the 374 pipers had to squeeze through the crowd to the stage area. The oldest piper was 98-years-old, organizers said.

Among the bagpipers was Les Kenfield and Kevin Conlon, two of the three members of Rats of Tobruk Memorial Pipes and Drums who played with AC/DC on the truck 49 years ago.

“It didn’t strike you at the time how big this event is until now,” Kenfield told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “Now it’s one of the greatest things — probably the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Having been declared world record holders, the massed pipers played “Happy Birthday” on request, followed by an impromptu “Amazing Grace” to a cheering crowd, many using their phones to record the moment.

The Australian Book of Records, which has been certifying records since 2012, confirmed that 374 pipers had together broken a record set by 333 pipers in Bulgaria in 2012. The U.K.’s better known Guinness World Records, which confirmed the Bulgarian record, told The Associated Press that it hadn’t been approached to assess the Melbourne record attempt.

Many of the enthusiastic spectators wore AC/DC T-shirts. Asked from the stage who among them were going to the concert afterwards, many hands went up.

One AC/DC fan who didn’t see the record set was Keegan Kohler, 23, a self-employed electrician from Columbus, Ohio. He had been waiting outside the concert stadium since 4:50 a.m. to ensure he’d be first in when the gates opened at 5 p.m. The bagpipes record was set nearby at 5:15 p.m.

Kohler had seen AC/DC perform their “Power Up Tour” this year in Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Detroit and Pittsburgh, but expects the experience will be better in the band’s home country. He will see two shows in Melbourne and one in the band’s hometown of Sydney.

“I think Aussie crowds are going to be way better than the U.S.,” he said. ”I think it’s going to be more eventful, more head banging, more excitement with the crowds.”

Kohler also reacquainted himself outside the stadium with Stephen Scott, from Charlotte, North Carolina. The pair first met in a line outside an AC/DC concert in Detroit.

Scott, a 33-year-old real estate agent, has seen the current tour multiple times in Europe as well as the United States and wanted to see the band perform in Australia.

“I’ve always talked about wanting to see them here. This is the first opportunity really to do it and maybe the last,” Scott said.

His fiancée Amber Thompson, a 31-year-old artist, said it was Scott’s idea to travel 10,000 miles for the concert.

“I enjoy it, but I probably wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know him,” she said, referring to Scott, whom she described as the true fan.

Rod Mcguirk, The Associated Press