Live: Summit, Houston

David Bowie performed at the Summit in Houston, Texas, on 9 April 1978, as part of the Isolar II Tour.

It was the eighth date of the tour, which began on 29 March in San Diego.

His guitarists were Carlos Alomar and Adrian Belew. Simon House was on electric violin, Sean Mayes played piano, and Roger Powell was on keyboards and synthesizers. George Murray played bass guitar and Dennis Davis was on drums.

The five-hour flight continued our North American slog, eighteen cities in four weeks across the States and Canada, ending in New York.

Houston is America’s fastest growing city, near Galveston on the coast and the space base up the road. We arrived early evening at another Hyatt extravaganza – three-storey lobby and lighting by Damocles.

It was Saturday night and free so we asked the staff about the best clubs and hired a limo to go visit them – Carlos, myself and a couple of the crew. The first place didn’t like the way we were dressed. After that they were too smart, too rough, wanted ID, looked like clip joints or closed last month. We ended up back at the hotel with a couple of six-packs and a bag of potato chips. Next day I found out Lou Reed had been playing in town and had a party afterwards at the hotel!

The show next day went well, an 18,000 seater. However, they had four huge video screens up in the dome, which I found distracting and never quite got off on the show.

Bowie returned to the Summit on 21 August 1983 during the Serious Moonlight Tour, and 7 and 8 October 1987 for the Glass Spider Tour.

The setlist

• ‘Warszawa’
• “Heroes”
• ‘What In The World’
• ‘Be My Wife’
• ‘The Jean Genie’
• ‘Blackout’
• ‘Sense Of Doubt’
• ‘Speed Of Life’
• ‘Breaking Glass’
• ‘Beauty And The Beast’
• ‘Fame’
• ‘Five Years’
• ‘Soul Love’
• ‘Star’
• ‘Hang On To Yourself’
• ‘Ziggy Stardust’
• ‘Suffragette City’
• ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide’
• ‘Art Decade’
• ‘Station To Station’
• ‘Stay’
• ‘TVC 15’