The Eagles concert at the Summit in Houston, Texas was part of a long 24-city and 27-concert tour of the western United States in support of their Hotel California album, which was released December 8, 1976. They also played at the Tarrant County Convention Center on Nov. 3, 1976.
JD Souther opened for this Summit show and later joined the Eagles on stage for “Best of My Love”. JD announced to the crowd that it was Glenn Frey’s 28th birthday.
November 1976 was a very busy month for the Eagles, since they played somewhere almost every night. The Summit indoor arena opened just a year earlier on Nov. 1, 1975.
Summit Concert Video:
The video of the full concert is below. Both Randy and Joe are wearing their Criteria shirts, and this is the show where the two of them come skipping out onto the stage for the first encore. It also has the extra-long intro to “Witchy Woman” and the extra verse to “Tequila Sunrise”.
Eagles concert at the Summit in Houston, TX – Nov. 6, 1976
This is the full concert, but the last encore song on the setlist, “Take It Easy”, is omitted from the end of the video.
“Take It To the Limit” starts at approx. 19:35.
The Summit ticket and setlist
Summit concert was broadcast on KLOL-FM radio
Randy Meisner on stage at The Summit
Screenshot of the start of “Take It To the Limit”
Eagles concert at the Summit in Houston
Randy Meisner, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Don Felder
Joe Walsh, Don Felder, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner
“Concert dates at the Los Angeles Forum Oct. 19 and 20 sold out less than two hours after the box office opened.”
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, TX) – Sept. 26, 1976
Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX) – Oct. 27, 1976
“Souther may be uncomfortably introverted at times, but he has a remarkable knack for writing and singing logically fluid melodies that carry you along with him easily even into his darkest moods.”
Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX) – Nov. 7, 1976
“Also, the group has always had a reputation for working hard on its compositions, agonizing over every element and changing things right up until the moment the recorded tapes are sent off to be turned into albums.”
Kingsport Times-News (Kingsport, TN) – Nov. 27, 1976
Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX) – Jan. 2, 1977
I’ll bet Randy just hated it when the blue light turned to a shocking white at the beginning of “Take It To The Limit”. It was such a contrast. In most of the group pictures, he’s back by the amps next to Henley’s drum kit. You could tell that Randy wasn’t feeling well during this concert. In spite of all that, the concert at the Summit is one of my favorites.
Yep, I could tell that his performance was bothering him. He was a trooper, though.