Well, Gonzales has done it. The Canadian-born MC/songwriter/showman has broke the Guinness World Record for the longest concert by an individual, performing for 27 hours straight or, to be exact, 27 hours, three minutes and 44 seconds.
The 37-year-old earned his Guinness Record holder status this weekend at the Cine 13 Theatre in Paris, where he took the title from Indian musician Prasanna Gudi, who performed a raga-thon for 26 hours and 12 minutes in December.
As promised, Gonzales delivered a near-continuous set that featured some 300 musical pieces, ranging from Gershwin's "Summertime" to Britney Spears's "Hit Me Baby One More Time," Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and "Eye of the Tiger" from Rocky III, as well as a bunch of his material, Agence France-Presse reports. No song was repeated, as Gonzales played each only once in front of a digital clock to keep time.
"I've read the [Guinness World Records] book and I find this combination of the poetic and the useless irresistible," Gonzales told AFP. "I remember a guy who put 143 cigarettes in his mouth: it was purposeless, but he was the only one to do it!"
As we previously reported, Guinness representatives were at the show to make sure Gonzales followed the rules and to test him for performance-enhancing drugs. (He passed.) In accordance with Guinness rules, he was only allowed a fvie-minute break each hour, and reportedly used the time to change outfits (from jeans to pajamas, says CBC Radio 3), fill up on Fruit Loops, answer a videographer's questions and get a shave.
Only a small crowd was allowed to watch the show in person, but the whole thing was streamed via his website, where you can now watch all sorts of highlights.
The 37-year-old earned his Guinness Record holder status this weekend at the Cine 13 Theatre in Paris, where he took the title from Indian musician Prasanna Gudi, who performed a raga-thon for 26 hours and 12 minutes in December.
As promised, Gonzales delivered a near-continuous set that featured some 300 musical pieces, ranging from Gershwin's "Summertime" to Britney Spears's "Hit Me Baby One More Time," Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and "Eye of the Tiger" from Rocky III, as well as a bunch of his material, Agence France-Presse reports. No song was repeated, as Gonzales played each only once in front of a digital clock to keep time.
"I've read the [Guinness World Records] book and I find this combination of the poetic and the useless irresistible," Gonzales told AFP. "I remember a guy who put 143 cigarettes in his mouth: it was purposeless, but he was the only one to do it!"
As we previously reported, Guinness representatives were at the show to make sure Gonzales followed the rules and to test him for performance-enhancing drugs. (He passed.) In accordance with Guinness rules, he was only allowed a fvie-minute break each hour, and reportedly used the time to change outfits (from jeans to pajamas, says CBC Radio 3), fill up on Fruit Loops, answer a videographer's questions and get a shave.
Only a small crowd was allowed to watch the show in person, but the whole thing was streamed via his website, where you can now watch all sorts of highlights.