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THE FIRST NIGHT OF
FRIARS AYLESBURY PHASE FOUR
A brilliant night
which proved that Friars could make the next leap up and so
started Phase Four at the biggest Aylesbury venue yet, the
brand new Waterside Theatre and Friars was the first gig and
proper event in the new place so we became the guinea pigs
in many ways! It's a beautiful theatre and I think that as
Kris Needs said, Friars came along, turned the Waterside
over and well and truly planted a flag in its bottom. Can't
argue with that. Even more so having to see a boarded up
Civic, still awaiting demolition, on the way to the gig.
All three bands
played like their lives depended on it, desperate to show
Friars what it meant to be back playing there. All three
bands received memento awards marking the first night of
Phase Four and to add to this, two very important people in
the Friars story received Heroes Awards - the immortal Kris
Needs and legendary Friars founding father Robin Pike.
Photos as credited
(and all used with permission) -
Big thanks to
Stuart Robb, Russ Naylor, Neale Wareham, Michelle Needs,
Nigel Lee, Simon Copson
We'll keep this page
updated as stuff comes in.
PRE MATCH INTERVIEWS
999
(October 2010)
Buzzcocks
(Oct 2010)
Eddie and the Hot Rods
(2009)
SPECIAL........including interviews and much more,
including maybe you!
THE GALLERY
HERE
SETLISTS
HERE
YOUR VIEWS
HERE
REVIEW
HERE
KRIS NEEDS REVIEW
HERE
ROXETTE REVIEW
HERE
From the acts.....
Eddie and the Hot
Rods:
Eddie and the Hot Rods were thrilled to receive their
second heroes award after their show at the brand new Friars
venue on Friday. Barrie Masters remembers well how the
original Friars was a great place to play and hopes this new
venue will prove to be as successful. The band had a really
good time and would like to thank David for inviting us back
THE SETLISTS
Buzzcocks: (thanks
Simon Copson)
 
Eddie and the Hot
Rods:
Teenage Depression; I Might Be Lying; Quit This Town; Kids
Are Alright; Life On The Line; Do Anything You Wanna Do; Why
Should I Care Anymore; Ignore Them; Bad Time Again; Power
And The Glory; Gloria
999: TBC
THE FANS
Just some of the
feedback we've had!
A really great night in a lovely venue - hopefully the first
of many great Friars nights.
Just a quick note to
say thanks for a great gig last night - bands and audience
top drawer - here's to many more. David S also took the time
to speak with me on the way in - I was wearing an MC5 t
shirt - I was 5 years old when they played Friars ! Thanks
to Dave also.
What a fantastic
night at the Waterside on Friday - you must all be so
pleased with the huge turnout... a brilliant gig !
There is a thriving
Friars community on Facebook
with hundreds of
members!
Here's a selection of comments:
"Really
enjoyed the night. The new theatre is superb-big but quite
'intimate' and created a great atmosphere. place looks great
-very classy. Like others enjoyed Eddie and the Hot Rods the
most. Bars were well stocked and efficient as well. Let's
hope its the first of many. Well done to Stoppsy for getting
it on and to everyone
for supporting it-so many old faces.
"we
enjoyed Friday night. great seeing so many old mates again.
what a fantastic new venue. perfect for gigs.
"great
gig last night...........Punks not dead (Thank god)
"Great
start to Phase 4......thought the layout was excellent and
really worked well.
Thought the Rods were superb and just stole the night for me
"Eddie and the
Hot Rods were the stars of last night - excellent!
Friars will always have the same values no matter what
venue. I was v. pleased to see that you can still stand
pretty close to the bands/stage -hope it remains that way.
Thanks Mike, David and Kris for making it all happen last
night!"
"Well done
Friars !!! A fantastic start to the new phase...and looking
forward to seeing more bands play there...a great venue -
LOADS of bars and bar staff (lol) plenty of room to mill
about and catch up/chat with mates - old & new...and a great
set up in the hall...loved it - a brilliant nite"
WEBSITE REVIEW
This one is really
hard for me to comprehend.
I never
imagined Phase Three would get a Lazarus style second bite
of the cherry and for Phase Four to start was
well....something myself and many others didn't see as a
remote possibility 12 months ago.
Well, here we
were in the shiny new Waterside Theatre, and a lovely place
it is too. Would it retain the 'Friars magic' - oh yes it
would.
Needsy kicked
proceedings off with some classic tunes and Friars
aficionados would have remembered and no doubt regaled in
hearing Clifford T Ward's Dubious Circus Company, a stalwart
from Friars Phase Two.....can that really have been 35 years
ago. And Kris has been with Friars since the very first gig
in 1969.
At 7.45 David
Stopps kicked off Friars Phase Four in style announcing 999
to the stage and minor issues of a blown amp aside, they
delivered a great set ending with classics Emergency,
Homicide and I'm Alive.
Eddie
and the Hot Rods sold out Friars with ease on many occasions
in the past and on this form it wasn't too hard to see why.
Buzzcocks turned the clock back with a set made up of more
recent material but heavy on classics culminating in a
devastating encore of Oh Shit, Ever Fallen In Love and
Orgasm Addict. They were up for it and Steve Diggle's hard
hitting anti-X Factor/plastic pop acceptance speech after
receiving their Friars award will live in the memory of any
true music lover.
A brilliant night and it
was also fitting that two special awards were given out by
David Stopps. Friars founding father Robin Pike received his
award and remember that without Robin, there would have been
no Phase One never mind Phase Four. Aylesbury journalistic
legend Kris Needs received a special award for all his
support over the years that said 'Always First With The
News' - enough said. Roll on the next gig - it can't come
quick enough.
KRIS NEEDS REVIEW
FRIARS PHASE 4 ROARS IN AT THE WATERSIDE
by KRIS NEEDS
World famous rock club Friars Aylesbury staged its first
concert at the town’s new Waterside Theatre last Friday,
commencing Phase Four of its 41 year existence with
celebratory sets from punk veterans the Buzzcocks, Eddie and
the Hot Rods and 999.
Despite minor teething problems like the downstairs bar
running out of beer, the first major music event at the new
venue drew a sizable crowd, ranging from the curious to
original diehards from Friars’ first night in June, 1969.
Once again, the club’s uniquely warm atmosphere was strongly
in evidence.
All three bands played the club in its last incarnation at
the Civic Centre. 999, who made their Friars debut in March,
1979, kicked off proceedings with a spirited set, peaking
with their theme song ‘Emergency’. Eddie and the Hot Rods
[last minute replacements for Penetration, who cancelled
owing to their guitarist suffering a broken collar bone]
were local favourites around 1976, appearing at Friars
several times and returning to headline Hobble On The
Cobbles in 2008. The Hot Rods’ infectious brand of high
energy rock ‘n’ roll went down a storm, particularly their
1977 hit ‘Do Anything You Wanna Do‘ and traditional tour de
force ‘Gloria‘. After the Hot Rod's set Friars promoter
David Stopps presented two 'Friars Hero' awards on stage to
two people who have been at the heart of Friars since 1969.
The first was to the man who's idea it was to start Friars
in the first place, former Aylesbury Grammar School teacher
Robin Pike, and the other was to me which was a marvellous
surprise.
The Buzzcocks, who played Friars in May, 1978 and March,
1979, capped their career renaissance of recent years,
leaving no doubts that, as just about the only surviving
band from 1976’s original punk rock wave, they are still
firing on all cylinders, inciting their faithful following
into a roof-raising reception as they charged through
classics such as ‘Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You
Shouldn‘t Have‘, ‘What Do I Get‘, ‘Boredom‘ and ‘Orgasm
Addict‘.
“We had a great time,” said guitarist Steve Diggle
afterwards. “We always liked playing at Friars back in the
day but this new venue’s fantastic. Good luck with it all.”
David Stopps commented "Everyone seemed to love the
Waterside as Friars new home. The Waterside staff were just
brilliant. Watch this space for some exciting gigs next
year."
THE NEW ROXETTE REVIEW
Here begins a new phase for Friars in an impressive new
building which makes scant concession to the traditional.
Some say it’s like wandering into a giant celestial game of
Jenga; others just describe it as ’woody’. People seem to
either love it or hate it, there’s no middle ground, but at
least everyone’s talking about it.
Veteran punks 999 opened the evening with their second
Friars appearance (the first was in March 1979). Sadly
things did not run smoothly for the currently pared down
trio. An amplifier malfunction left us with Nick Cash’s bass
and vocals backed only by drums which simply did not do
justice to their brand of sonic attack. Eventually someone
got the guitar up and running on a purloined amp and 999
were able to deliver some satisfactory punky thrash although
the phrase ‘too little too late’ did spring to mind. Their
disappointment was hopefully eased by the presentation of a
Friars Heroes award.
Eddie and the Hot Rods are an historically significant band.
They were one of the prime movers in the crossover from pub
rock to punk and unfortunately never received the long term
recognition they really deserved. Tonight, with an
impressively huge sound, Barry Masters and friends gave it
their best to an enormously appreciative crowd. Do Anything
You Wanna Do sounds as great now as it did back then. Even
after all these years the grit and the energy’s still there
to an unbelievable level. After the set Barry and band were
another ecstatic group to receive a well deserved Friars
Heroes award.
Two more well deserved Heroes awards were handed out
straight after Eddie’s. These went to DJ, Writer and
designer of the Friars logo Kris Needs and to founding
father of Friars Robin Pike. Well done chaps!
The Buzzcocks still have boundless energy. Combine this with
Steve Diggle’s righteous polemic and Pete Shelley’s
incurable romanticism and you have the ultimate in punk pop
confection; sweet with a touch of acidity. Add huge clanging
shards of guitar mayhem and howling freeform feedback
between songs and the package is not only complete but
practically perfect. They treated us to all the hits and a
whole lot more. ‘Fast Cars’, ‘You Say You Don’t Love Me’,
‘Noise Annoys’, ‘Ever Fallen In Love…’, ‘Orgasm Addict’,
‘Love You More’, ‘Oh Shit’, ‘What Do I Get?’ They roared
along like a massive tsunami dragging pogoing punx of all
ages along in their wake and finally making landfall with
the fifth Friars Heroes award of the night.
A great start to a new Friars phase in an amazing new venue.
Just ask any of the exhausted, overheated crowd heading out
into the night…
Here’s looking forward to next year and many more nights
like this.
Rick Pearce
THE GALLERY
All pictures: Used
with permission and as credited and
©
2010 www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk except where noted
Picture: Stuart Robb
A few before the
show. The dressing rooms are HUGE! This was the Buzzcocks
one.
Picture: Mike
O'Connor
Beavering away in
the Production Office is promoter David Stopps and Jam
Central's Stuart Robb
Picture: Mike
O'Connor
A magnificent
setting.
Picture: Mike
O'Connor
I included these
ones as you see the stage being prepared, level with the
floor. Given the unique way this is all set up with the
theatre, the floor was dropped four feet in time for the
gig.
Picture: Mike
O'Connor
Picture: Mike
O'Connor
Two of the very
friendly Waterside staff - they were all wearing specially
commissioned Friars badges for the evening.
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Two of Aylesbury's
best known characters. You know who they are.
Picture: Mr and Mrs
Bonzi
Ace Friars lensman
Russ Naylor with Barrie Masters.
Picture: Russ Naylor
Lensmen
extraordinaires Neale Wareham and Russ Naylor to whom we owe
a great debt of gratitude for recording all the recent
Friars gigs for posterity and allowing us to show their work
on this website.
Picture: Stuart Robb
Official Friars Hero
Kris Needs and the lovely Mrs Needs.
Picture: Russ Naylor
David Stopps, Mike
O'Connor and Friars lensman Don Stone, somebody else to whom
we are very grateful for his continued support and pictures.
Picture: Russ Naylor
David Stopps with
some of the good people who keep Friars ticking - Rick
Pearce, Kris Needs, Judy Pearce
Picture: Michelle
Needs
999 belt it out -
the first band to play Friars Aylesbury Phase Four
Picture: Sue
O'Connor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Mr and Mrs
Bonzi
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Mr and Mrs
Bonzi
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
999 received a
commemorative award to mark the first night of Phase Four
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Mr and Mrs
Bonzi
It's Eddie time!
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Eddie and the Hot
Rods played a very well received set like they had never
gone away.
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Eddie and the Hot
Rods received a commemorative award to mark the first night
of Phase Four
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Kris Needs receives
his Friars Heroes Award from David Stopps for services
beyond the call of duty over 41 years.
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neal
Weareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Robin Pike receives
his truly deserved Founding Fathers Friars Heroes Award from
David Stopps. Without Robin, there would have been no Phase
One, never mind Phase Four. Fact.
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Buzzcocks closed the
night with a 100mph set peppered with classics.
   
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Nigel Lee
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Russ Naylor
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Nigel Lee
Picture: Sue
O'Connor
Picture: Neale
Wareham
Picture: Sue
O'Connor
Picture: Sue
O'Connor
Amongst much mayhem
at the end, Buzzcocks receive their commemorative award too.
Steve Diggle's passionate acceptance speech will live long
in the memory....
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Neale
Wareham/Modent Art
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Sue
O'Connor
Post-gig.
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Michelle
Needs
Picture: Simon
Copson
Picture: Simon
Copson |
