Posted on 11/14/2025 4:38:09 PM PST by nickcarraway
As AC/DC launched their Australian tour in Melbourne on Wednesday, hundreds of bagpipers assembled in record-breaking droves in the nearby Federation Square to play the band's classic song "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)."
The gathering drew 374 bagpipers, breaking the world record previously set in 2012 by 333 pipers in Bulgaria, the Associated Press reports. The oldest confirmed piper was 98 years old.
You can see photos and video from the record-breaking gathering, dubbed "The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash," below.
Why Was the Location of 'The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash' Important? Federation Square is on the historic Swanston Street, which holds special significance for AC/DC, as it served as the filming site of the 1976 music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top." The video features the band and members of the Rats of Tobruk Memorial Pipes and Drums performing the song on the back of a flatbed truck as they barrel down Swanston Street.
Les Kenfield and Kevin Conlon, two of the three Rats of Tobruk members who appeared in the "It's a Long Way to the Top" video, reprised their roles on Wednesday in the record-breaking bagpiper crowd.
"It didn't strike you at the time how big this event is until now," Kenfield told Australian Broadcasting Corp (via AP). "Now it's one of the greatest things — probably the greatest thing I've ever done in my life."
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Over the top cool...
,,, also known in Australasia as "It's a Long Way to the Shop (If You Wanna Sausage Roll)."
VERY cool!
Just inside the gates, Satan’s Accordion & Bagpipe band welcomes sinners to Hell.
No joke man.
There is a group, “The Red Hot Chili Pipers”, who do great versions of rock tunes.
Bon Scott never played pipes again after someone stole his pipes from the stage during a show.
Way cool!!!!
( is this gonna make me wanna strip naked, grab a sword and run into battle? the ‘pipes tend to have an atavistic effect on me)
😳
Note the lefthanded piper in the lower right corner, playing a righthanded bagpipe - now THAT’S unusual.
“Over the top cool...”
.
Indeed, it is.
I enjoy that young women, ery young boys, graybeards, and the age-span of participants are so varied.
That, and the “tenor drums” are a treat. (Although it wasn’t ALWAYS that way).
My wife and I were at the last US AC/DC concert this last May in Cleveland. Would’ve been great to experience this then.
Later, a second world record was set when a buried, high ordinance device was set off in the middle of the field, setting off a world record for how many annoying bagpipers were eliminated in a single instance...
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