Finnish heavy metal band AncarA has always been ambitious in pushing themselves to the limits and wanting to take their music to a higher level. While working on a new song for their next album, the band decided that they wanted to play in a place where no band had ever gone before. So, this past winter, AncarA and hip hop artist Signmark, spent 18 days climbing Mount Everest, along with Sherpas carrying their gear, to set the new world record for “Highest Live Rock Concert”, with a rugged sound system featuring a 16-channel QSC TouchMix compact digital mixer and a pair of K Series loudspeakers.
“Finding a sound system to climb Everest was a tall order, to say the least. We needed a new system to meet many requirements — rugged enough for an extreme climate, reliable and easy to plug in and play so that we could do sound check at any point, light and easy to pack and carry– and most of all, powerful enough to deliver great sound at a live outdoor rock concert on top of a mountain,” says Sammy Salminen, AncarA lead singer. “QSC TouchMix and K Series met all our requirements, and the performance was indeed over the top!”
The world’s highest live rock concert took place on Sunday November 15, 2015 in Dingboche, Nepal, at an altitude of 4,410 meters (14,468 ft.) high. After climbing in challenging terrain for more than 18 days, with two weeks to adjust to the high altitude, AncarA band members Sammy Salminen (lead vocals) Toni Hintikka (bass), Tuomas Keskinen (guitar, vocals), Juha Wahlsten (guitar, vocals) and Rale Tiiainen (drums) and artist Signmark performed the half hour concert on Everest. With the obvious absence of roadies and sound engineers at such heights, the band members set up and operated all the equipment themselves for the show.
“We did all the setup and equipment operation ourselves for the concert, including the TouchMix mixer,” adds Salminen. “TouchMix was very easy to use – anyone could do it – and it performed beautifully. “
AncarA, from Kerava, Finland, has released three studio albums over the past several years, including The Dawn, Beyond the Dark, and Chasing Shadows. The band has just finished recording their fourth album, and will be the subject of a documentary about on the world’s highest concert, due out this summer. More information on AncarA can be found on their Facebook page.
“Before embarking on our Everest climb and the concert, we met with Joni Puiras from Top Sound in Finland, who was so supportive of us playing the world’s highest concert that he sponsored our efforts and loaned us the QSC equipment,” adds Sammy. “After the trip, we were so impressed that we bought our own TouchMix and K Series for the band – that’s how great they performed for us.”
Watch AncarA’s world record-breaking concert on Everest:
That’s a very cool idea! Travel to no place a performer has performed before with QSC. Inspiring.