A statue of David Bowie will be unveiled at Aylesbury Market Square in the UK next Sunday (25 March 2018).
Bowie debuted ‘Hunky Dory’ and ‘Ziggy Stardust’ in Aylesbury. A kickstarter campaign raised £115,199 to fund the creation of the Bowie monument.
Bowie referenced Aylesbury Market Square in the lyrics to ‘Five Years’ from the Ziggy album. “Pushing through the market square, so many mothers sighing,” he sang.
David Bowie performed to a small gathering at the Friars Club in Aylesbury in September 1971 to see if he could perform live. After the gig, in the Friars dressing room, he said to Woody Woodmansey, Mick Ronson and Trevor Bolder “This was great tonight. Let’s form a band and go out and do it properly.”
Four months later they returned to the Friars to continue to roadtest songs from ‘Hunky Dory’. By July the Ziggy persona was revealed and the yet to be released album became the backbone of Bowie’s setlist.
Two fans in the audience were the completely unknown Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor who had just formed their own band Queen.
David Bowie setlist Aylesbury September 25 1971
Fill Your Heart
Buzz the Fuzz
Space Oddity
Amsterdam
The Supermen
Oh! You Pretty Things
Eight Line Poem
Changes
Song for Bob Dylan
Andy Warhol
Queen Bitch
Looking for a Friend
Around and Around
I’m Waiting for the Man
David Bowie setlist Aylesbury July 15 1972
Hang On to Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
The Supermen
Queen Bitch
Song for Bob Dylan
Starman
Changes
Five Years
Space Oddity
Andy Warhol
Amsterdam
I Feel Free
Moonage Daydream
I Can’t Explain
White Light/White Heat
Suffragette City
I’m Waiting for the Man
The statue titled ‘Earthly Messenger’ will be dedicated on Sunday. Meanwhile, a petition has started to change the name of the tour from Aylesbury to Aylesbowie.
