Frank Turner Attempting World Record To Play Most Gigs In 24 Hours

To say Frank Turner has done his time on the road would be the understatement of the century: since cutting his teeth on the English folk-punk circuit around 2001, he’s performed close to 3,000 live shows – and now, he’s aiming to make live music history with the world record for the most shows performed in 24 hours.

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The incredible feat coincides with the release of Turner’s upcoming tenth solo album, Undefeated, which is due out on May 3 via Xtra Mile. He’ll undertake it the following day (May 4) with an eye-watering 15 shows booked around the UK, spanning some 500 miles from Liverpool to Southampton. The goal here is for Turner to beat a record set by Hunter Hayes, who performed ten shows in one day – notably just shy of a decade prior to Turner’s own attempt (in May of 2014).

Much like Hayes’ record-setting feat, Turner’s attempt to beat it will be done for a good cause: he’s partnered with mobility app FREENOW to pull it all off, linking with their Ride For Music campaign to support independent venues in the UK; with the campaign, £1 from each ride booked with FREENOW is donated to the Music Venue Trust. The company will supply Turner with e-taxis to get between each venue on the itinerary.

In a press statement, Turner explained of the wider initiative: “We’re working with 13 independent record shops and 15 independent grassroots music venues for the shows, highlighting two bits of the infrastructure of the underground that I care about most. It’s going to be tough, but hopefully fun too. Come down for a show!”

He added: “With nearly 3,000 shows under my belt, I’ve never been one to do things by halves or shirk a challenge – I once played all 50 American states in 50 days, for goodness sake.”

To be eligible for the record, each city Turner plays in must be at least 31 miles apart and have a population of at least 15,000 people, and he’ll need to play for a minimum of 20 minutes. See the full list of cities and times below:

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Turner announced Undefeated back in January alongside the release of the single Do One. Upon the drop, he called the track “a summation of what I’m trying to say with this record, a record about survival and defiance, but also one with a sense of fun and self-deprecation”.

He expounded on the sentiments explored across the LP: “There are no clichés about the difficult tenth album, so in some ways, that's a liberating statement. But at the same time, I have a duty to justify writing and releasing a tenth album. That's a lot of records for anybody. Also, I’m 42, which is not a sexy, rock’n’roll age. But all through my career, I've been interested in writers like Loudon Wainwright III or The Hold Steady, people who write about adulthood, essentially.”