Singer Frank Turner ‘still recovering’ after smashing gigs world record

Exclusive: British singer-songwriter explains how he beat the record for most gigs played in 24 hours while raising money and support for independent music venues

(Alamy Stock Photo)

Frank Turner says he’s “still recovering” after he smashed the world record for the most number of gigs played in 24 hours.

The British singer-songwriter performed 15 shows in 15 different towns to 3,000 fans at local venues around the UK, with a share of the funds raised from ticket sales going towards grassroots venue charity the Music Venue Trust.

He kicked things off at the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool at 12.30pm on Saturday 4 May, working his way down the country before arriving for a performance at The Brook in Southampton at midday on Sunday (5 May).

The MVT stipulated that, to secure the world record, each set had to last for at least 15 minutes, with no repeated venues and a minimum of 25 audience members at each show.

“It’s quite on-brand [for me],” Turner, 40, told The Independent of his world-record attempt.

He had previously played 24 shows in 24 hours at house parties, record stores and squats around Greater London in 2009, footage from which was used in his music video for “The Road”.

Frank Turner said the world record attempt was ‘on brand’ for him (Getty)

“Every show was an independent venue sponsored by the Music Venue Trust, and it was a cool way of directing money and attention towards that sector, which is important to me,” he said.

He ended up playing 30-minute sets for each of his sold-out gigs: “It was a really cool vibe, and hopefully the fans had a really good time.”

Turner beat the previous record-holder, US musician Hunter Hayes, who managed 10 shows in 24 hours, and who in turn beat the record when it was held by rock band The Flaming Lips, who played eight.

The musician who started out as the frontman for post-hardcore band Million Dead before embarking on a solo career in 2005, just released Undefeated, his latest album as a newly independent artist, which he self-produced at his home in London.

“I’m both proud and pleasantly surprised that I still get to do this as a living,” he said. “When I started doing this, I don’t think anybody, least of all me, thought I’d be doing it for this long, so I’m happy and grateful to still be standing.”

On his track “No Thank You For the Music”, he sings about still being an “angry man” and rails against XX.

“Getting older, as everybody knows, everything hurts more but also you have a slightly better sense of self-definition,” he said. “I know who I am, where I stand and who I want to associate with, and there is some comfort in that.”