SUDBURY -- The Guinness World Record for the deepest concert has now returned to Sudbury after a performance Saturday morning in the Creighton Mine.
An adjudicator was on-hand as the Shaft Bottom Boys' held a performance at 7,200 feet, beating the previous record set by Finnish group Agonizer in 2007.
"I feel privileged to work at Guinness World Records. There's nothing like the buzz of setting a new world record, the stories that are behind it. I love the story in coming to Sudbury here and hearing that the group here down the mine, the Creighton Mine, and all the charities that they are supporting. It's a huge buzz," said Paul O'Neill, vice-president of Guinness World Records. "I think everyone wants to be the best that they can and whatever it is that they do and we at Guinness World Records think everyone has an extraordinary talent and we're there to find it and I think these guys might have found their extraordinary talent."
There were rules the group had to meet in order to beat the previous record set, including their concert had to be at least 15 minutes in length, the songs had to be at least two minutes and it had to be a ticketed performance.
"This is the strangest feeling because I used to work obviously at Vale and being here in this environment is extremely surreal right now. It's something that we cooked up and we're going to do it so it's pretty exciting," said John Shelegey, the group's bassist. "We're 100 per cent fully confident, a lot of planning goes into this."
The same world record was at one point held by another Sudbury band from Confederation High School.
"We're the Shaft Bottom Boys, and the world record was originally in Sudbury from the Evolutionary Band at a depth of just over 3,000 feet. It was taken from them by a Finnish band shortly thereafter … and we want to bring it back to Sudbury and we're leveraging the fact that Guinness World Records is here to unveil their exhibit at Science North," said Shelegey.
The group also tied in local charities including Science North and Miners for Cancer to give back to the community.
After a 30 minute performance, Guinness World Record Adjudicator Kaitlin Vesper was able to break the news to them; they were the new record holders.
(Guiness World Records certificate presented to the Shaft Bottom Boys for the world's deepest concert.March 7 /2020. Ian Campbell/CTV Northern Ontario)
"Working for Guinness World Records, I get to meet a lot of very interesting people and travel to some interesting places but can confirm I haven't been anywhere as interesting as Creighton Mine or been this far below sea level before," said Vesper. "We love to showcase the stories of these incredible individuals and it shows their creativity and imagination and I think the 'Shaft Bottom Boys' are no exception in what they achieved here today."
The performance was a big hit with the audience, there was toe-tapping, dancing and shouts for encores from the audience of 50 mine workers.
"I thought it was a great chance for the guys to come out here and see the world record being beat so it was great," said miner Ron Arseneau.
The group now has the new plaque in its possession. The record will be a tough one to beat as Creighton Mine is already one of the deepest mines in the world.
On Monday the band stopped by Pure Country 91.7:
