The highest note (Nepali Times)
UK musicians play a gig at Everest Base Camp to raise money for Nepali kids (In Support of Help Nepal Network)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oz Bayldon imagined many things before he and members of the band The Hidden travelled to play a gig at the top of the world?but not that nearly 100 people would be on hand to watch them perform at Everest Base Camp on Oct 17.
?It became like a pilgrimage with people we met along the way coming up, it was crazy,? Oz, now back in Kathmandu, told us. Climbing up to Kalapatthar he was concerned about how the cold and lack of oxygen would affect their performance. When they started setting up at 4.30 AM all the water bottles had frozen but once they started playing, ?it was all cool.?
Each band member performed one song, some covers some original, and then the guides and porters took a turn. The ?concert? ended after 30-40 minutes, putting the band a step closer to a Guinness World Book entry for the highest gig.
More importantly for Oz, chairman of the Nepal Balbalika Trust, his fourth trip to Nepal was another opportunity to raise money for a learning centre and shelter for homeless children being built in Dhulikhel with partners HelpNepal. So far the tally is 30,000 pounds and Oz hopes that sales of a documentary on the World?s Highest Gig will push the total to 50,000 pounds.
