7th february 2016 welcome to the new look site memories are everything apparently and i have only great ones of the fabulous friars . david bowie february 28th 2014 please see below about signing the petition for a david bowie statue in aylesbury marillion return to friars aylesbury 27th november 2016 friars legends marillion will play their first aylesbury date for three years when they return to friars at the aylesbury waterside theatre on 27 november 2016 . tickets limited to 4 per person will go on sale at 10.00 am on saturday 20th february from the aylesbury waterside box office and at 2.00 pm on the same day on line from atg and ticketmaster . atgtickets.com tel 0844 8717607 and ticketmaster.co.uk . the venue format will be the same as last time with standing in the stalls area and seats in the two balconies . their last friars date in november 2013 on their sounds that can t be made tour was a complete sellout . marillion are currently busy writing and arranging their as yet untitled 18th album in their buckinghamshire studio . they will be moving to peter gabriel s real world studio in bath to commence recording of the new album in late february . aylesbury based marillion featuring ian mosley on drums mark kelly on keyboards pete trewavas on bass steve rothery on guitar and steve hogarth on vocals keyboards pioneered the whole concept of crowd funding in the music industry in the early nineties . this model is now used extensively by new bands and heritage artists and bands throughout the world using such companies as pledge music and kickstarter . it basically involves fans supporting projects by paying fees from a price list in advance of the project s conclusion thus allowing an artist or band to fund the making and marketing of an album a video a tour or all of these combined . marillion have also pioneered weekend conventions at various locations around the world each year . they released a special dvd unconventional in december 2015 which is a documentary about these amazing events . steve hogarth mark kelly steve rothery and pete trewavas all attended the friars david bowie event under the arches of aylesbury market square on 16th january following the superstar s untimely and unexpected death . marillion are unquestionably the biggest band ever to have come out of aylesbury and seem to become more and more popular as time goes on . they have a massive worldwide loyal progrock fanbase which just keeps on growing . friars aylesbury which was recently described in a mojo magazine king crimson review as the prog knights templar is honoured to present them once more as returning local heroes . please sign bowie statue petition david bowie unleashed the world debut of hunky dory at friars aylesbury on 25th september 1971 . he enjoyed the gig so much that he officially formed his band that night in the friars dressing room . the band was later to become the spiders from mars . four months later on 29 january 1972 he played friars aylesbury again and this time performed the world debut of his iconic album the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars . by july 1972 he had fully developed the ziggy character and returned to friars aylesbury again flying 50 american journalists in especially for this show . this put friars and aylesbury on the world map . we are petitioning for a statue to be erected of david bowie in his ziggy period in aylesbury market square which he references in the song five years . it will not be a memorial but will celebrate his art and his connection with aylesbury . we are not asking aylesbury vale district council for any money as we intend to raise the money by crowd funding and grants . we do however need avdc to approve the creation of a statue and the site where it will stand . please share this petition as far and wide as possible . together we can make this happen 800 people signed at the memorial event but please add your voice and sign the petition in the link here please share this via the change.org site and social media king crimson to return exclusively to friars aylesbury at the waterside theatre on 4th and 5th september 2016 following the remarkable success of the two friars aylesbury king crimson dates in august and september 2015 the band have asked to come back and play two more friars dates in 2016 except this time they will be the only dates the band will play in the uk next year . the 2015 king crimson european tour was the first proper tour the band has played since the eighties and they chose to start the tour at friars which was a great honour for the club . they actually played three nights the first night being a warm up show for friends and family . friends and family turned out to include the legendary kate bush who came in to the waterside incognito . king crimson main man robert fripp received a friars heroes award on the third night marking his 6th friars appearance . robert s wife and friars luminary toyah wilcox also attended all the shows this year . says friars promoter david stopps the shows in august were amongst the best that friars has ever presented in its long 46 year history . even people who were not familiar with the band were blown away with their sheer musical brilliance . tickets will go on sale from the waterside box office only on saturday december 5th 2015 at 10.00 am . maximum of 4 per person . they will then be available online later the same day at 4.00 pm from atgtickets.com 0844 8717607 or ticketmaster.co.uk . the fact that tickets go on sale from the box office 6 hours before they are available on line reduces the possibility of secondary ticketing and gives local people the first opportunity . because these dates will be the bands only uk dates ticket demand is expected to be high with fans travelling from all over the country . it is a complete coup for friars and the waterside . full report from the king crimson gigs at friars in 2015 tributes to recently departed heroes david bowie 1947 2016 friars aylesbury david bowie tribute in the market square dale buffin griffin 1948 2016 ian lemmy kilmister 1945 2015 john bradbury 1953 2015 some articles you may have missed missing posters can you help a list of posters we have yet to trace full picture gallery from stackridge 2014 report from the exhibition preview night 28th february 2014 pics here marillion how good was that gig see special report here . steve hackett report specials report special ziggy at 40 feature here rip lol coxhill obituary by kris needs privacy policy legal and t & c contact copyright 2007 2016 mike o connor www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk . all rights reserved and no part of this website may be reproduced without written permission please see terms and conditions for details . all photos copyright mike o connor except where specifically stated and used with permission .