On the 11th and 12th July Leo, formerly of BRIT Award winning band The Streets, undertook the challenge of performing 24 live shows in 24 hours across his hometown of London in order to raise money for the Prince’s Trust.
His ‘tour’ began spectacularly in a pod on the London Eye, where he entertained fans, bloggers and VIP guests against a sunset backdrop.
Leo proceeded to gig through the night, jetting from venue to venue with his band and crew in electric-powered Nissan cars and a London taxi.
Locations included a prison cell, Smithfield meat market, an art gallery and the shop window of Mayfair tailor Oscar Udeshi – who loaned Leo a ‘one of a kind’ gold jacket to complete the duration in.
After a swift breakfast in an East London café, Leo’s entourage continued their quest; performing with ballerinas at the Royal Ballet School, in front of the Mayor’s office and on a football pitch.
‘The London Eye was a great gig,’ Leo enthuses ‘, even though I am scared of heights. I also enjoyed the London dungeon show - that was fun but they have so many horrible things in there and nobody told me there were real live RATS..! Then there was the Royal Ballet School... This was truly amazing. Those guys can seriously move and they are extremely strong. I was in awe…’
The tour finished with an intimate show at the prestigious W Hotel and then a party at West End club Anaya with a nine piece band plus horn section.
Fans were able to show their support by donating to the Prince’s Trust via text and could watch the whole event in real time on new social networking site Sprkle.com. The charity is close to Leo’s heart, he explains ‘they helped me out when I was starting out in the music industry and gave me a grant to start my own recording studio and so I am giving back to help give up and coming artists that same opportunity.’
Having completed the challenge with almost 20 minutes to spare, Leo says ’, it feels great, I am actually proud that I did it. I am a very positive person by default; however I can say that I was really tested... I never thought it would be this hard. At times it was very uncomfortable and painful. Around 4am-8am that was the worst period for me. Quitting never crossed my mind though as I had set a challenge and I couldn’t let myself down.
Leo is currently working on his solo album and pursuing an acting career.
Watch the 24 gigs at www.sprkle.com and donate to the Prince’s Trust by texting LION82 £3 to 70070
