The sun couldn’t scorch the spirit of a thousand drummers from having a crack at the Guinness World Records. Organised by the Stage Light Music Artist Union (SLMAU) to gain recognition and raise funds for its members, they were attempting to break the record, which was previously held by 798 drummers from the U.K., who played for six minutes and 30 seconds.
Led by ‘Drums’ Sivamani, the well-known percussionist, who started his career as a stage artiste, the group of over a 1,000 drummers was supposed to play for a little more than 10 minutes.
It was a logistical nightmare: how do you instruct a crowd (that also comprised kids as young as three) of over a 1,000 to set up their drum-kits? Thanks to the hardworking volunteers, it was possible.
On the day of the performance, the star-percussionist was walked into the venue accompanied by Tamil folk artistes performing the traditional Karagattam.
After taking the stage, Sivamani said that he would like to teach the group the first lesson he received from his master. “This is my gift to you,” he said and performed the two-stroke ‘Daddy-Mommy’ routine and its many variations.
As the sun was going down, the countdown began. After a minute’s silence for the blast victims, Sivamani began swishing his sticks. Unexpectedly, the group missed Sivamani’s beats right from the first 20 seconds. It took a while before the sounds got synchronised. Soon after, a volunteer announced that the group had successfully broken the old record.
