Marathon Man: Carlin Breaks Solo Concert Record

World record. An impressive phrase. An impressive achievement. And, amusingly enough, I am acquainted with a world-record holder in a field that I believe to be of some interest to sundry citizens of the MOGiverse and rockin' music-lovers everywhere on the planet. One of my confederates, San Francisco Bay Area native Alex "Alexi Carlinski" Carlin, is now in the Guinness Book for the longest solo concert performance ever, as of a mammoth 32-hour musical marathon that stretched from June 20-21 at the Bourbon Street Pub in Radomsko, Poland, three hours to the north of Krakow.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Carlin - a singer, songwriter and guitarist who was a mainstay of the wacky East Bay cult favorite garage-rock band Psycotic Pineapple during the heyday of punk and new-wave - was simply a genial American ex-pat living and performing with his ensemble The Henchmen in Eastern Europe. (He was also a longtime colleague of the highly-regarded Berkeley, CA power-pop quartet The Rubinoos.) Then, he exceeded the previous world record for solo musical presentation by five hours. In keeping with regulations established by the board of Guinness World Records, the proper number of witnesses, plus a steward and a nurse, were always present. The entire extravaganza, with Carlin singing and playing song after song and taking no real breaks between the selections, was webcast, enabling friends and fans back in the U.S.A. to watch and listen to the feat.

According to an interview in the Krakow Post newspaper, Carlin felt fantastic about his accomplishment, and was pleased with the quality of the show. "And after doing something so difficult, now I feel like I can do anything," he said.

Carlin played 500 songs in total, including the complete Beatles library of 227 compositions. He told the Krakow Post that he was having problems at around the 12th hour, but things began to get better and better for him. "The last five hours were quite easy," he said. He added that he was feeling particularly strong in the final hour when the set featured some high-energy material including Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Metallica numbers, and his own composition "No Sleep - Only Rock and Roll."

"I was amazed that I could still sing those kinds of vocals at the 32nd hour," Carlin admitted.

So why did he do it? When I suggested to him that he did it just because he could, he agreed. "My normal everyday/night life over here is non-stop playing until morning, whether its gigs or parties or after-parties or hanging out in the park," he said, and this record-setter was just an extension of the same.

If you happen to be traipsing around Eastern Europe this summer, check the local listings. Carlin will be performing with The Henchmen throughout Poland over the next couple of months. He's a hell of a player, and the rollicking essence of rock and roll.

In Carlin's honor, I've embedded a video stream of one of my favorite Psycotic Pineapple tracks, the terse anti-love song "I Wanna Get Rid of You." Under that, you'll find a clip featuring the end of Carlin's record-breaking gig. And the MOG Player provides another grinding Psycotic Pineapple cut: "I Want Her So Bad," a sentiment that's yin to the yang of "I Wanna Get Rid of You."