There’s underground music, and then there’s deep underground music.
A band from Timmins, called Miners and Sons, now holds the Guinness World Record for the deepest underground concert.
The band performed at the 9,000-foot level of the Kidd Mine in Timmins, which is roughly 2,700 metres underground. That’s the equivalent of around five CN Towers stacked one on top of another.
Band member Sean Harris said he was exhausted shortly after achieving the record.
“It’s warm down there,”” he said.
Harris said it took two years of planning to make the record attempt a reality. That included working closely with the company, Glencore, which operates the mine, and arranging for a Guinness adjudicator to witness the underground set.
“The rule was you have to play at least 15 minutes, it can’t be more than 30 seconds between songs, songs have to be at least two minutes long and have to be recognizable,” he said.
They performed in front of a crowd of around 30 people, including some mine employees and managers, local politicians and staff from Northern College, which helped sponsor the effort.
Harris said they played songs from Collective Soul, The Tragically Hip, Rage Against the Machine and Johnny Cash.
Harris said he was still in shock that he and his bandmates will now have their names etched into the Guinness Book of World Records.
A Sudbury band called The Shaft Bottom Boys set the previous record for the deepest underground concert. In 2020. they performed 1,893.8 metres, or about 6,200 feet below ground in Vale’s Creighton Mine.
Shaft Bottom Boys member John Shelegey extended his congratulations to Miners and Sons.
“It’s got to be well planned, well organized, well supported,” he said.
“So first and foremost I’d like to congratulate them.”
Shelegey said he was a bit disappointed to lose the record, but is glad it will remain in northern Ontario.
He added that he hopes Miners and Sons can continue his band’s tradition of being ambassadors for the mining industry, and using their world record attention to raise money for local charities.
Shelegey hinted that friendly competition between the two bands could push the Shaft Bottom Boys to try to go deeper than their previous record.
