|
By Chad Swiatecki
Fenton — Nearly 24 hours into his record-breaking guitar streak, most of Brian Engelhart’s left forearm and hand went numb.
A few hours later, the room at Mo Doggie’s Bar and Grill in Fenton started to spin, he said.
By hour 40, the picking fingers on his right hand couldn’t feel the strings they were playing.
But at hour 44, after Engelhart, 35, had broken the Guinness World Record for continuous guitar-playing while playing “Two Tickets To Paradise” by Eddie Money, it was all worth it.
“It’s an amazing feeling, but I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. ... I just thought it would be something fun to try,” said the Fenton resident, a lifelong musician.
“About halfway through, it was really tough because it was just me and the witnesses and a few friends here, and the bar seemed like it was spinning. Thankfully, they kept me laughing and helped me get through it.”
Engelhart’s streak, which ended at 3 a.m. today, breaks the previous best of 42 hours set by Guillermo Paolisso Terraza, an Argentinean, in January.
To reach the record, he started his four-hour, 66-song set — filled with such popular rock songs as The Eagles’ “Life In The Fast Lane” and “Slide” by The Goo Goo Dolls — at 7 a.m. Tuesday inside Mo Doggie’s, a familiar spot through his years of performing with Flint- and Detroit-area bands.
Guinness regulations allow 30-second breaks between songs and a 15-minute break every eight hours. Two witnesses were present at all times to log the song lengths and the exact length of each between-song break.
Engelhart used no caffeine or other stimulants to stay awake, only herbal nutrition drinks and tiny sandwich slices fed to him by his wife, Lisa.
“It’s crazy, and it’s been hard on him, but he’s been wanting to do this for months now,” Lisa Engelhart said during hour 41 as her husband and some of his rotating cast of bandmates plowed through The Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”
“One day in January, he sat down, looked up the record and decided he was going to do it, and I said, ‘You’re crazy, but this might be your last chance to do something really big, so go out and do it, and I’ll be there with you.’ ”
When not playing or recording as a solo musician, Engelhart installs satellite television systems and runs a business, Lighthouse Video Productions.
Adrenaline and excitement carried Engelhart at the start, and playing to the restaurant’s day and evening crowds made for a familiar environment Tuesday.
But punch drunkenness settled in early Wednesday after the bar closed, and the musicians played to an empty house.
“I’ve been here 20 of the 44 hours, and I have no idea how he’s doing it, but I’m just happy he made it through that tough night,” said Mo Doggie’s owner Michael DeMoss, a longtime friend of Engelhart’s who helped him coordinate the details of the marathon.
“He came to me, we went through all the rules, and once we thought he could do it, we set the date. Because it’s something he wants so bad, everyone wanted to help him make it.”
Help came in the form of a lot of little things. DeMoss and others took turns singing when no other musicians were present, and Lisa Engelhart freshened her husband up with baby wipes, deodorant and mouthwash during the breaks.
It also meant visits from old band members who sat in on Wednesday night and this morning.
“When he called six weeks ago and told me what he was doing, I knew he could do it, even though it’s physically and mentally draining to be up there for so long,” said Jimmy Auquier of Flat Rock, who once played with Engelhart in a band called New School Mary.
“I knew it would be hard, but I wanted to be here with him because I was sure he’s crazy enough to do it.”
_________________
Kwame Kilpatrick texted to his mistress: "NEXT TIME, JUST TELL ME TO SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and DO YOUR THING! I'm fucked up now!"
|
