Rehearsal: Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio

David Bowie had a seven-hour rehearsal at the Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, on 21 September 1971.

It was the Spiders From Mars’s first rehearsal since their arrival in America, and the first to feature their latest recruit, keyboard player Mike Garson.

At his one full rehearsal, in Cleveland, before joining the tour, Garson had a dramatic introduction to this new world he was entering. At the jazz gigs he had been used to, the piano was usually an upright, or possibly a broken-down baby grand; there would be no monitor speakers; the bass player would have gut strings and no amp. He sat down at a nice grand piano and pointed out to Mick Ronson that the PA speakers were facing the wrong way. Ronson replied, ‘No, that’s your monitor system, the main speakers are up there!’ and pointed up to the high ceiling, which carried some huge speakers. Garson exclaimed, ‘Holy fuck, where am I?’

Bowie’s first US tour date was at the Music Hall in Cleveland’s Public Auditorium on the following night, 22 September.