On 26th October 2026 the potentially exciting news was announced that Friars, Aylesbury promoter David Stopps was intending to start arranging gigs at High Wycombe, Town Hall, starting with The Dung Beatles on Friday 13th November 2026.
As readers of this website will know, regular ‘Rock Concerts’ at this historic venue came to an abrupt halt in May 1980, following crowd problems at an Adam and The Ants gig. After more than 45 years, this news is a huge chance to restore High Wycombe on the live music circuit.
The news arrived via the Friars, Aylesbury newsletter, which stated:
FRIARS HIGH WYCOMBE intends to present a series of dates at the historic Wycombe Town Hall some of which will be under the FRIARS HIGH WYCOMBE banner and others under the banner of MONKS HIGH WYCOMBE, the latter featuring new up and coming indie bands… but we’re going to need your support.
Friars has been presenting the best bands in the world in Aylesbury for 57 years. Bands such as The Ramones, Talking Heads, Queen, The Police, The Clash, U2, Genesis, Marillion, Blossoms, The Vaccines, MC5, Paul Weller, The Flaming Lips, Lou Reed, Roxy Music and of course David Bowie.
Way back in the seventies and eighties Friars Aylesbury would present many gigs in other towns. One of the venues used for those gigs was Wycombe Town Hall which has an amazing rock history. The Rolling Stones played there 3 times and there were also gigs with The Who, The Yardbirds, Bill Hayley & The Comets, The Kinks, The Animals, The Small Faces, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (with Eric Clapton), Ike & Tina Turner, The Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart), Pink Floyd, Traffic, The Move, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Rory Gallagher, Genesis, Hawkwind, Free and even Paul Simon. In 1970 Friars presented Procol Harum with local band Farm and later that year the legendary Mott the Hoople amongst others. In the eighties Friars presented High Wycombe hero Howard Jones as he was starting to break in April 1983 and again when he was riding high in the charts with ‘New Song’ and ‘What is Love’ in December of that year. The last 1983 HJ show at the Town Hall was filmed and was re-released in September 2026 by Cherry Red Records, having been completely restored and remixed. Howard’s career still continues to grow and flourish. He is special guest to Rod Stewart on his 2027 UK arena tour.
