A music Group performed at height 6645m Everst Peak Nepal

[R. M. Dixit]

Scaling musical heights: Band sets new world record after performing gig at the summit of 6,654m Himalayan peak


By Anthony Bond
PUBLISHED: 15:07 GMT, 1 June 2012 | UPDATED: 16:20 GMT, 1 June 2012

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Their fingers were stiff from the cold and two musicians were struck down with altitude sickness.

But following a stunning gig with a sensational view, a music group has set a new record for the highest musical performance.

The musicians performed at the summit of the 6,654-metre high Mera Peak, which is close to Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse in the Himalayas, Nepal.


Head for heights: A music group has set a new record for the highest musical performance following this gig on top of a Himalayan peak in Nepal

They even had an audience made up of 15 other trekkers who paid $10 each to watch them perform for 40 minutes
'My fingers were freezing. It was difficult to play the guitar after a few minutes, but I kept playing,' group leader Oz Bayldon said.
'I felt like a 90-year-old with asthma.'
Only eight of the 10 volunteers from various countries reached the top, while the two with altitude sickness did not. Local porters helped carry their three guitars, small amplifier fitted with speakers, microphones and a stand.


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'The view was beautiful in the backdrop of some of the tallest and most beautiful mountains. It was like some one had painted it and put it there,' Mr Bayldon said.
He sang and played three of the English songs he wrote and one Nepali 'mero naam, tero naam,' which just means your name, my name.
Frenchman J.B. Tilon, 25, said he was very tired on the way up and did not feel too well. But once he got to the top and saw the view he was full of energy.

Hard work: Ten volunteers from various countries attempted to take part in the record attempt. Some of those are pictured climbing the Mera Peak to perform the gig

'It was the most beautiful landscape I have even seen. It was being above the clouds,' he said, adding it was very cold and dry so he was able to play only for five minutes and only one French song.
Mr Bayldon, an Australian living in London, said the group raised £35,000 for a charity in Nepal that is building an orphanage.
Other performers are from England, Scotland, Poland and Denmark.
Mr Bayldon set a previous record for highest musical performance in 2005, performing near the base camp of Everest. But that record was broken two years later.
Guinness World Records credits Musikkapelle Roggenzell, 10 musicians from Germany and Bolivia, who scaled Mount Acotango in Bolivia to perform at 6,069 meters (19,911 feet).
Guinness is awaiting the evidence before verifying if the new performance set a new record.
It took place on May 16.

'I felt like a 90-year-old with asthma': Musicians set new record after performing gig at the summit of 6,654-metre Himalayan peak | Mail Online