On Sunday, December 1, 1974, David Bowie closed out his Diamond Dogs world tour at the 16,000 capacity Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. Post-show, the English superstar hosted an end-of-tour party in his suite at the Hyatt hotel, next door to the venue. In his 2024 memoir Guitar: A Rock 'n' Roll Tell-All, American guitarist Earl Slick, a newcomer to Bowie's live band, remembers the party being "a wild scene" with "local cuties" joining the band and crew to party into the wee small hours. "Obviously, there was blow all over the fucking place," Slick recalls in his book.
"Then, out of nowhere, a bunch of guys broke down the door, shouting with handguns drawn, threatening us," Slick writes. "We didn’t know who they were. They weren’t in uniform, and they sure didn’t act like authorities of any kind. They looked dirty and scruffy, in street clothes no self-respecting person would be caught dead in. Along with everyone else in the room, I found myself face against a wall, with my hands above my head and my legs spread, next to Eric Barrett, our tour manager. Eric had been Jimi Hendrix’s guitar tech, so he’d seen some things. We looked at each other and said almost in unison, ‘I hope they’re fucking cops'."
