Leamington music venue part of world record gigging attempt

A MUSIC venue in Leamington could become part of a world record this weekend.

Singer-songwriter Frank Turner will be attempting to play the most gigs in different towns and cities in 24 hours by playing 15 shows across the country.

And one of the shows – at noon on Sunday – will be at art and music cafe bar Temperance on Bath Street.

The rules are simple. In a timeframe of 24 hours, Frank has to play 15 solo shows, with each set running for a minimum of 20 minutes. The previous (official) record is held by Hunter Hayes with ten shows and before that it was the Flaming Lips with eight.

But there’s a serious point too. The challenge will support grassroots venues and independent record stores across the country, including Head located in Leamington’s Royal Priors.

Frank said: “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.

“For the release of my tenth studio album, ‘Undefeated’, I will be making an attempt at a world record – the most number of shows in different cities in 24 hours.

“It’s not just self-promotion either. 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!”

Frank’s effort will be supported by taxi app Freenow, which will be providing e-taxis for him to complete the almost 500 mile journey, which runs from Liverpool to Southampton.

Visit frankturner.orcd.co/mvtwrtickets for tickets and further details.

The schedule takes in the following venues:

Saturday May 4

12.30pm – Liverpool, Jacaranda – instore

2.30pm – Huddersfield, Parish – outstore for Vinyl Tap

4pm – Leeds, Boom – outstore for Crash

6pm – Sheffield, The Foundry – outstore for Bear Tree

7.30pm – Chesterfield, Gasoline – outstore for Tailbird

9pm – Nottingham, Saltbox – outstore for Rough Trade

10.30pm – Birmingham, RMBL – outstore for Eclipse Records

Sunday May 5

12.00am – Leamington Spa, Temperance – outstore for Head

2am – Leighton Buzzard, Crooked Crow Bar – outstore for Black Circle Records

4am – London, Underworld – outstore for Rough Trade

6am – Kingston, Banquet Records

7.30am – Aldershot, West End Centre – outstore for 101 Collectors

9am – Portsmouth, Staggeringly Good Brewery – outstore for Pie & Vinyl

10.30am – Winchester – The Railway – outstore for Pie & Vinyl

12pm – Southampton, The Brook – outstore for Vinilio