Fathom, a Sydney-based music duo, attempted to break a Guinness World Records title by performing nine concerts in 12 hours across various cities in New South Wales and Canberra. Their journey included delays due to traffic accidents and missing helicopter schedules for bushfire relief efforts, as well as a plane propeller malfunction that delayed them further. Despite these challenges, they completed their final performance with only 15 seconds to spare.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Fathom, a Sydney-based dream pop duo consisting of vocalist Cate Guirguis and keyboardist Jaxon Italiano, attempted to set a Guinness World Records title by performing nine gigs across various cities in New South Wales and Canberra within 12 hours. The musicians faced significant logistical challenges, including traffic delays and missing a scheduled helicopter ride that almost derailed their efforts. Despite these setbacks, they managed to complete the final show in Canberra with just 15 seconds left on the clock. Each performance had to last at least 15 minutes, and venues were required to be at least 50 kilometers apart, with half of them needing populations over 100,000 residents. The duo traveled by tour bus, helicopter, car, and plane to reach locations such as Singleton, Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney, Penrith, Lithgow, Bathurst, and Goulburn before their final stop in Canberra. While the feat is impressive, it does not automatically qualify them for an official Guinness World Records achievement, pending confirmation of all requirements met.
Written for “Sydney Duo Marathon Gigs” on 2026-09-17,
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Sydney dream pop duo Fathom recently attempted a
Guinness World Records title by performing nine shows in just 12 hours across New South Wales and Canberra.
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Fathom → attempt → Wales
For this, vocalist Cate Guirguis and keyboardist Jaxon Italiano travelled from Singleton to Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney, Penrith, Lithgow, Bathurst and Goulburn before reaching Canberra for their final performance.
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Guirguis → travel → performance
The challenge required the duo to perform at least nine shows, with each show lasting at least 15 minutes, ABC news reported.
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news → require → minutes
The venues also had to be at least 50 kilometres apart and located in areas with populations of more than 15,000.
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venues → have → 15,000
At least half of those areas had to have populations of 100,000 or more.
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half → have → more
Fathom used a tour bus for most of the journey, but the route also involved a helicopter, a car and a plane.
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route → use → helicopter
They nearly failed at their goal several times because of delays during the journey.
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They → fail → journey
However, the duo managed to reach their final venue in Canberra and completed their 15-minute set with only 15 seconds left on the clock.
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duo → manage → clock
"It was right down to the wire," Italiano recalled, as quoted by ABC news.
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Italiano → recall → news
Traffic and a missing helicopter
The first major delay came in Sydney.
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delay → miss → Sydney
Italiano said he had expected traffic between Sydney and Penrith to be one of the biggest challenges of the day.
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traffic → say → day
An accident on the M4 caused delays, making the journey slower than expected.
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journey → cause → delays
The bigger problem came after the Penrith show.
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problem → come → show
Fathom had arranged a helicopter flight over the Blue Mountains to get to Lithgow.
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Fathom → arrange → Lithgow
The flight was planned to help them avoid the closure of Victoria Pass.
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them → plan → Pass
But when Guirguis and Italiano arrived at the helicopter base, their scheduled helicopter was not there.
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helicopter → arrive → base
"We needed to board the helicopter by 5.10 pm because they wouldn't fly after sunset.
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they → need → sunset
But then we got there early and there was no helicopter there," Guirguis said.
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Guirguis → get → ?
They received a call from the company's head office informing them that the helicopter was being used to help extinguish bushfires in the Blue Mountains.
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helicopter → receive → Mountains
"Then we got a call back from the lady at head office, and she was saying that they were out extinguishing bushfires in the Blue Mountains, which is a fair enough excuse," Italiano said.
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Italiano → get → Mountains
The delay lasted about 30 minutes and Fathom eventually took the helicopter to Lithgow and continued with the next part of the challenge.
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Fathom → last → challenge
Plane problem added to delay
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problem → add → delay
The journey became difficult again when the duo travelled from Bathurst to Goulburn.
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duo → become → Goulburn
They had arranged a chartered plane for this part of the trip, but even getting to the flight became a problem.
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getting → arrange → flight
"Firstly we went to the wrong terminal," Guirguis said.
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Guirguis → go → terminal
Once they were ready to leave, another problem appeared.
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problem → leave → ?
Italiano said the plane's right propeller stopped working as they were taking off.
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they → say → ?
"As soon as we were taking off, the right propeller stopped working," he said.
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he → take → ?
The pilot then upgraded the pair to a jet.
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pilot → upgrade → jet
Our pilot upgraded us to a jet which was fantastic and a lot safer," Italiano said.
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Italiano → upgrade → jet
The problem had put the duo about an hour behind schedule.
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problem → put → schedule
They still had to reach Canberra, set up and perform their final show before the 12-hour period ended.
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period → have → show
The final road trip went more smoothly.
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trip → go → ?
Guirguis said they encountered green traffic lights all the way to Canberra.
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they → say → Canberra
"We just had green lights all the way to the venue," she said.
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she → have → venue
After arriving, the pair went straight on stage and performed their final 15-minute set.
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pair → arrive → set
"Cate and I jumped on stage, pumped out a 15-minute set," Italiano said.
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Italiano → jump → set
The countdown showed how close the attempt had become.
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attempt → show → ?
"We had a look at the countdown, there was only about 15 seconds," he said.
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he → have → countdown
Fundraising for Beyond Blue
The record attempt was also linked to a fundraising effort for mental health charity Beyond Blue.
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attempt → link → Blue
…and 20 more, not listed.
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