Music: Mark Mallman's Triple Rock

You could watch three Twins playoff games, do a full day of housework, catch up on last year's entire season of "Glee," hit the mall, bake a soufflé and get three full nights of sleep -- all in the time it takes Mark Mallman to play a single gig this weekend.

Mallman plans to perform continuously for 78 hours Thursday through Sunday at the Turf Club. There will be no breaks, besides bathroom trips. There will be no audience between 2:15 a.m. and noon, besides the people monitoring the show live via the Web. And there will be nothing to compare it to in the increasingly rote world of rock performance, which is the main reason why Mallman is going for it.

"As creative pursuits go, rock 'n' roll shows have become incredibly uncreative," said Mallman.

The singer/pianist first played a 26-hour concert in 1999, followed by a 52-hour set in 2004. Dubbed Marathon and Marathon 2, those shows earned him airtime on CNN and consideration from Guinness World Records. He believes Marathon 3 will be far more worldwide in scope, since webcasting technology has greatly improved since 2004.

"When it's 5 a.m. here, it'll be 11 a.m. in London," he said. "Who knows how many people might be watching?"

Mallman insists he's not doing it for the attention, though, and especially not for a record. "It's not about any of that. It's about creating a better performance. It's sort of like the rugby players who take ballet class to become better players. I'm doing it to become better at what I do."

The singer has been training hard to prepare. He couldn't jog a mile in May, but he has been averaging seven per day in recent weeks. He swore off alcohol weeks ago and consulted nutritionists. He's stretching out his sleep patterns. His musical preparations include writing 400 pages of new lyrics and lining up 100 other musicians to play with him.

Mallman actually claims the previous Marathons enhanced his performance skills by tapping into a "raw nerve," an idea that Cramer Bornemann did not dismiss. The effect might be similar to growing abuse of the sleep-aid drug Ambien, he said, where users who fight to stay awake on it can get a euphoric feeling. In either case, though, "the risks are serious and dangerous."

Mallman says he never really went batty during his 52-hour concert, and he pretty clearly remembers everything about it. "After I finally went home and crashed, I was still playing the keyboard in my head and still moving to the music when I woke up, like when you get out of a long car ride and still feel the motion."

Turf Club music manager Dave Wiegardt pointed out that one important new ally Mallman might have is the 24-hour CVS pharmacy recently built next door. "We could wheel you and your keyboard through the drive-through and get you any pharmaceuticals you might need," Wiegardt half-joked.

Mallman laughed but bristled at the idea. "I don't want any drugs," he said. "It's like a woman who chooses natural childbirth. The pain is part of the experience. I want the full experience."