David Bowie performed at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on 7 June 1978, as part of the Isolar II Tour.
It was the 48th date of the tour, which began on 29 March in San Diego.
Bowie’s 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. Bowie and the band stayed in Amsterdam and were driven to the Rotterdam shows.
We stayed there three nights while we played in Rotterdam, the large port 40 miles south. One day I took a tram to the Van Gogh museum, full of vivid paintings and sketches.
Life On Tour With Bowie
This was the first of three consecutive nights at the Rotterdam Ahoy. Bowie had previously performed there on 13 and 14 May 1976 during the Isolar Tour.
He returned to the venue on 30 March 1990 for the Sound+Vision Tour; 16 July 1996 for the Outside Tour; and 15 October 2003 for A Reality Tour.
The setlist
- ‘Warszawa’
- “Heroes”
- ‘What In The World’
- ‘Be My Wife’
- ‘The Jean Genie’
- ‘Blackout’
- ‘Sense Of Doubt’
- ‘Speed Of Life’
- ‘Breaking Glass’
- ‘Fame’
- ‘Beauty And The Beast’
- ‘Five Years’
- ‘Soul Love’
- ‘Star’
- ‘Hang On To Yourself’
- ‘Ziggy Stardust’
- ‘Suffragette City’
- ‘Art Decade’
- ‘Alabama Song’
- ‘Station To Station’
- ‘Stay’
- ‘TVC 15’
- ‘Rebel Rebel’
Also on this day...
- 2000: Glastonbury 2000 diary – part six
- 1997: Live: Flughafen Blankensee, Lübeck
- 1996: Live: Century Hall, Nagoya
- 1990: Live: Woodlands Pavilion, Houston
- 1987: Live: Rock am Ring, Nürburgring
- 1973: Live: Free Trade Hall, Manchester
- 1972: Live: City Hall, Sheffield
- 1964: Live: Davie Jones and the King Bees, Bedsitter, London
Want more? Visit the David Bowie history section.