Jul 1, 2008 11:11 pm US/Pacific
Guitarists Gather In Concord To Break World Record
CONCORD (CBS 5) ―
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2,052 guitarists attempted to break a world record in Concord on Tuesday night.
CBS
A ragtag crowd of guitarists - amateur and professional - picked its way toward a world record Tuesday night.
Organizers of "Concordstock" drew 2,052 guitarists to Todos Santos Plaza in Concord to attempt to break the Guinness World Record of 1,802 guitarists performing a song in one place set last June in Germany.
"We got 2,052 and it's all documented," said Jim Ocean, producer of Concord's "Music in the Park" program. "We have it all ready to go to send to London to get the accreditation."
Country Joe McDonald, a Bay Area 60's iconic musician, led the crowd in "This Land is Your Land" by Woodie Guthrie. An enthusiastic crowd filled with professional musicians and novices alike sang and loudly strummed along.
Melinda Meehan said she brought her guitar and sang "Just for kicks. And if I look in the Guinness Book of World Records and see we set the record, I can look at it and say, 'Hey, I was part of that.'"
Not everyone liked the choice of songs for the competition. "Smoke on the Water" was the song that broke the record in two different cities in 2007.
"I'd prefer a much better song, actually… something like 'Hey Ya' from Outkast would be cool," said Eric Carlson.
Catherine Erbaugh disagreed. "Right now we're going through a war," she said. "It's patriotic and it's everybody coming together and also because it's easy to learn when you're new."
Regardless of song choice, many believed it was a memorable experience beyond the record-breaking.
"It was fabulous," said Janet Campbell through the biggest smile in the crowd. "Just being part of something so big, it just really felt like we're doing something special."
Alex Wexthoff, 9, got performance anxiety.
"I started to get nervous," he said. "I was like…I hope we don't have to get up on stage, and then my mom told me and I'm like, 'Yooof'!"
The organizers were nervous, too. They had just over 1,000 registrants the day before the event.
The Eyewitness Blues Band - made up of CBS 5 reporters Mike Sugerman and Joe Vazquez, photographers Patrick Sedillo and Zack Heene as well as KCBS radio's Stan Bunger and Doug Sovern also performed.
Concord City leaders say it will take several weeks to verify the record. As for why they chose the Woody Guthrie song, organizers say the song is patriotic and because it's so close to July 4th.
Editor's Note: CBS 5 TV was one of the sponsors of the event.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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