Metallica in Texas starts at Texarkana College on August 18, 1983. It runs through twelve arenas in three weeks in 1989, a concert film shot in Fort Worth, Texas Stadium, and two sold-out nights in Arlington, the first with Pantera. Next come El Paso and San Antonio in May 2027.
The Short Version
- Earliest Texas date on record: Texarkana College, August 18, 1983.
- Biggest Texas tour: twelve cities in January and February 1989.
- Next Texas dates: El Paso, May 18, 2027, and the Alamodome, May 22, 2027.
When Did Metallica First Play Texas?
The earliest Texas date on record is August 18, 1983, at Texarkana College, the first of five Texas dates in nine days on the Kill ’Em All for One tour. Harvey Hall in Tyler followed on August 22, The Nightlife in Austin on August 24, Daddy’s in San Antonio on August 25, and Odessa on August 26. Daddy’s was the band’s first show in San Antonio, the heavy metal capital.
In May 1986 Metallica opened four Texas arena nights for Ozzy Osbourne: the Frank Erwin Center in Austin on May 8, The Summit in Houston on May 9, Fort Worth’s Tarrant County Convention Center on May 10 and the El Paso County Coliseum on May 12.
It was bassist Cliff Burton’s last American tour; he was killed in a tour bus accident in Sweden on September 27, 1986. In July 1988 Metallica was fourth on the Monsters of Rock bill, under Van Halen, Scorpions and Dokken. It played Rice Stadium in Houston on July 2 and the Cotton Bowl on July 3, the last Texxas Jam.
Metallica
Los Angeles, 1981, later the Bay Area. Start with Ride the Lightning (1984), the record behind the 1985 club run, then ...And Justice for All (1988).
Metallica in the Texas Clubs, 1983 to 1986
The Ride the Lightning tour brought seven Texas club dates between February 21 and March 2, 1985. Austin’s City Coliseum came first on February 21, then the Ritz Music Hall in Corpus Christi on February 22 and San Antonio’s Cameo Theatre on February 25.
Cardi’s in the Houston area followed on February 26, then the Arcadia Theatre in Dallas on February 27, the band’s earliest Dallas date on record. After a second Cardi’s night on February 28, the run ended at the Big Apple Night Club in El Paso on March 2.
The Arcadia night ran late. Promoter Jerry Warden, who sang that night, told Buddy Magazine that Rita Haney met the band at the show and brought James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich to Savvy’s in Arlington, where they jammed with the young Pantera. “Same night, same Wednesday,” Warden said. More in our history of Pantera before Cowboys from Hell.
In June 1986, on a break from the Ozzy tour, Metallica headlined its own run with Armored Saint. Texas got five nights in a row: the Bronco Bowl in Dallas on June 3, Corpus Christi on June 4, McAllen on June 5, San Antonio’s Majestic Theatre on June 6 and Odessa on June 7, all behind Master of Puppets (see our 1986 thrash albums).
On July 18, 1986, Rotting Corpse played the Cameo, seventeen months after Metallica. The nine-song tape on our media page includes Metallica’s “Fight Fire With Fire.”
Cameo Theatre No longer a club
A 1940 movie house, owned by City Church Downtown per a 2016 state filing. Google lists it as permanently closed.
Flyer for the July 18, 1986 show. Rotting Corpse archive
Originals like “Evil Slaughter” and “War on Drugs” sat beside covers of Exodus, Dark Angel, Slayer and Possessed. Bassist Steve Murphy says people still call it the best Rotting Corpse show.
Metallica in Texas, 1989: Twelve Cities in Three Weeks
The Damaged Justice tour, behind ...And Justice for All, played twelve Texas cities between January 17 and February 5, 1989. Queensrÿche opened.
- January 17: Heart O’ Texas Coliseum, Waco
- January 18: Ector County Coliseum, Odessa
- January 20: City Bank Coliseum, Lubbock
- January 21: El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso
- January 22: Amarillo Civic Center, Amarillo
- January 24: Beaumont Civic Center, Beaumont
- January 25: Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi
- January 31: Taylor County Expo Center, Abilene
- February 1: Convention Center Arena, San Antonio
- February 3: Frank Erwin Center, Austin
- February 4: The Summit, Houston
- February 5: Reunion Arena, Dallas
The Cult opened when the band came back that August: The Summit in Houston on the 22nd and the Starplex Amphitheatre in Dallas on the 23rd.
Queensrÿche
Bellevue, Washington. Opened the January 1989 Texas sweep. Start with Operation: Mindcrime (1988).
The 1989 Dallas Recordings
The 2018 ...And Justice for All box set includes, per The Second Disc, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” “Seek & Destroy” and “Creeping Death” from Reunion Arena on February 5, 1989. Its camcorder DVD adds footage from the Dallas and San Antonio stops.
Reunion Arena Closed 2008
Reunion closed on June 30, 2008, and was demolished by November 2009. Our Pantera and the Dallas Stars piece covers its last years.
Photo: RadicalBender, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (April 2004)
Metallica in Texas, 1992 to 1996: Arenas, Sheds and Lollapalooza
The Black Album’s Wherever We May Roam tour played seven Texas arenas in 1992, from Houston’s Summit on January 17 through Reunion Arena, San Antonio and Austin to El Paso, Lubbock and Odessa by February 4.
That September the Guns N’ Roses/Metallica stadium tour, with Faith No More opening, sold out the Houston Astrodome on the 4th and Texas Stadium on the 5th, about 44,000 tickets each. It came less than a month after Hetfield was burned by stage pyro in Montreal. At Texas Stadium, Faith No More’s Jim Martin joined Metallica for “Last Caress.”
The 1994 Shit Hits the Sheds tour played the Starplex in Dallas on August 5, South Park Meadows in Austin on August 6 and Houston Raceway Park in Baytown on August 7. On July 25, 1996, Metallica topped the Lollapalooza bill at Old Fort Dallas in Ferris, a small town south of Dallas. The Dallas Observer put the crowd at about 20,000 and called North Texas a huge Metallica market.
Metallica in Fort Worth, 1997: Cunning Stunts
Metallica’s Texas concert film, Cunning Stunts, was shot on May 9 and 10, 1997, at the Fort Worth Convention Center, on the Poor Touring Me tour for Load. The band knew the room from the 1986 Ozzy tour, when it was the Tarrant County Convention Center. Wayne Isham directed. Elektra released it on DVD and VHS on December 8, 1998.
Fort Worth Convention Center Arena Demolition 2027
The round arena opened in 1968. CultureMap Fort Worth reports a farewell party inside it on September 20, 2026, ahead of demolition in early 2027.
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (June 2016)
Metallica at Texas Stadium, 2000 and 2003
The Summer Sanitarium show at Texas Stadium on July 9, 2000, sold all 49,429 tickets and grossed $3,160,170, per the tour boxscore. The package was Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 and System of a Down.
Hetfield missed that night with a back injury. Pollstar reported that guest singers, including Korn’s Jonathan Davis, fronted Metallica, reading “from lyric sheets printed out by the band.” The band made it up with two free shows at the Smirnoff Music Centre, the former Starplex, on August 2 and 3. The second fell on Hetfield’s 37th birthday, and Metallica streamed it in full in 2020.
Texas Stadium Closed 2008
Metallica played here in 1992, 2000 and 2003. The Cowboys’ last game was on December 20, 2008, and the stadium was imploded on April 11, 2010.
Photo: Allspamme, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (November 2008)
The tour returned in 2003 with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Deftones and Mudvayne. It played Reliant Stadium in Houston on August 2 and Texas Stadium on August 3. Linkin Park recorded its Live in Texas album at those two shows.
Metallica in Texas, 2004 to 2019
Madly in Anger with the World, the St. Anger tour, played five Texas arenas in 2004: Austin’s Frank Erwin Center on September 3, Lubbock’s United Spirit Arena on September 4, Houston’s Toyota Center on November 16, Dallas’s American Airlines Center on November 17 and San Antonio’s SBC Center on November 20. Neither show in the boxscore sold out: 9,593 in Lubbock, 12,596 in Houston.
World Magnetic sold out three Texas arenas: 17,163 at the Toyota Center on November 20, 2008, with Austin’s The Sword booked to open; 17,185 at San Antonio’s AT&T Center on September 28, 2009; and 17,790 at the American Airlines Center the next night. In between, on March 20, 2009, the band played Stubb’s in Austin during SXSW, a promotional show for Guitar Hero: Metallica.
On the WorldWired tour the band played NRG Stadium in Houston on June 11, 2017, the Alamodome on June 14 and AT&T Stadium in Arlington on June 16. NBC DFW named Avenged Sevenfold as main support. In 2018 Metallica played both weekends of Austin City Limits in Zilker Park, October 6 and 13; Blabbermouth reports the first-weekend set was livestreamed.
West Texas got two arena nights in 2019, both sold out per the tour boxscore: 12,546 at UTEP’s Don Haskins Center in El Paso on February 28, and 14,653 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock on March 2. Blabbermouth reported that Lubbock got the first live “Here Comes Revenge.”
Metallica in Arlington and Houston, 2021 to 2025
On November 27, 2021, Metallica played Globe Life Field in Arlington at the debut of Triller’s Triad Combat. Blabbermouth reported a 16-song set in three parts.
The M72 World Tour came to Arlington for two nights at AT&T Stadium, August 18 and 20, 2023. Pantera and Mammoth WVH opened the first night, Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills the second. Wikipedia’s boxscore lists 139,630 tickets sold and $18,524,712 for the stand. Our Rex Brown profile covers Pantera’s 2022 reunion.
AT&T Stadium Open
Metallica’s North Texas stadium since 2017.
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (June 2020)
Houston got its M72 night on June 14, 2025, at NRG Stadium, with Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera opening. Wikipedia lists 74,900 tickets sold. CultureMap’s Craig Hlavaty reported that Metallica opened with “Creeping Death” and called the band “a frenetic, multigenerational machine.”
Reliant Stadium Open
Metallica’s Houston stadium: Reliant in 2003, NRG Stadium in 2017 and 2025. The building took back its original Reliant name in August 2026.
Photo: Oscar Dominguez via Google
Is Metallica Coming to Texas? The 2027 Dates
Yes, twice. On September 16, 2026, Metallica announced a twelve-date 2027 North American stadium leg of the M72 World Tour, with two Texas dates: Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso on Tuesday, May 18, and the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday, May 22 (event page).
Alamodome Open
Metallica played here in June 2017; the 2027 show is on the dome’s calendar.
Photo: Taylor Wimberly via Google
Limp Bizkit and Avatar are on the tour. As of October 2026, Dallas and Houston have no date.
Limp Bizkit
Jacksonville, Florida. On the 2003 Texas Stadium and Reliant bill, and both 2027 Texas dates. Start with Significant Other (1999).
Avatar
Sweden. On both 2027 Texas dates. Start with Hail the Apocalypse (2014).
Where to Hear It Live
Metallica’s next Texas nights are in May 2027; thrash in smaller rooms is closer. Rotting Corpse plays the Haltom Theater in Haltom City with Iron Jaw on Saturday, November 14, 2026, and Spam’s Bar and Lounge in San Angelo on Saturday, December 5, 2026 (see our shows page). Our guide to Dallas metal venues lists more DFW rooms to watch.
Start with “When It Rains, It Pours” (1987)
It’s from the 1987 demo cut at Pantego Sound with Vinnie Paul engineering, where this story’s Arlington thrash and Pantera threads meet.
Sources
- Chapter Inc. Metallica encyclopedia: 18th
- Chapter Inc.: 22nd
- Chapter Inc.: 24th
- Chapter Inc.: 25th
- Chapter Inc.: 21st
- Chapter Inc.: 26th
- Chapter Inc.: 27th
- Chapter Inc.: 28th
- Chapter Inc.: 2nd
- Chapter Inc.: 4th
- Buddy Magazine: Arlington, Home of Heavy Metal
- setlist.fm: Texarkana College, 1983
- setlist.fm: Arcadia Theatre, Dallas, 1985
- Wikipedia: Damage, Inc. Tour
- Cinema Treasures: Cameo Center, San Antonio
- TDLR: Cameo Theater renovations, 2016
- Wikipedia: Damaged Justice
- 98.7 The Bomb: Metallica in Amarillo, 1989
- The Second Disc: ...And Justice for All reissue
- Wikipedia: Reunion Arena
- Wikipedia: Wherever We May Roam Tour
- Wikipedia: Guns N’ Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour
- Wikipedia: Monsters of Rock
- Wikipedia: Shit Hits the Sheds Tour
- Wikipedia: Lollapalooza
- Wikipedia: Ferris, Texas
- Dallas Observer: Little Mascara
- Wikipedia: Cunning Stunts (video)
- Wikipedia: Fort Worth Convention Center
- CultureMap Fort Worth: Arena Adieu
- Wikipedia: Texas Stadium
- Wikipedia: Summer Sanitarium Tour
- Pollstar, July 11, 2000
- hennemusic: Dallas, August 3, 2000
- Wikipedia: Madly in Anger with the World Tour
- ABC13: the Reliant name returns
- Wikipedia: Live in Texas (Linkin Park album)
- Wikipedia: World Magnetic Tour
- Wikipedia: WorldWired Tour
- setlist.fm: ACL, October 13, 2018
- UTEP News: Don Haskins Center, 2019
- Blabbermouth: first live “Here Comes Revenge”
- Blabbermouth: 2009 North American tour dates
- Austin Chronicle: Off the Record
- NBC DFW: WorldWired in North Texas
- Blabbermouth: ACL 2018
- Blabbermouth: Metallica at Triad Combat, Arlington
- Wikipedia: M72 World Tour
- Blabbermouth: “Creeping Death” in Arlington
- CultureMap Houston: Metallica at NRG Stadium
- Loudwire: Metallica 2027 tour dates
- UTEP Athletics: Sun Bowl Stadium
- San Antonio Current: Alamodome 2027
- Wikipedia: Cliff Burton
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Metallica first play Texas?
The earliest Texas date in the Chapter Inc. Metallica encyclopedia and on setlist.fm is August 18, 1983, at Texarkana College, on the Kill ’Em All for One tour. Tyler, Austin, San Antonio and Odessa followed by August 26.
Is Metallica coming to Texas in 2027?
Yes. The 2027 North American leg of the M72 World Tour has two Texas dates: Tuesday, May 18, 2027, at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, and Saturday, May 22, 2027, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, with Limp Bizkit and Avatar on the tour. As of October 2026, no Dallas or Houston date has been announced.
Where was Metallica’s Cunning Stunts filmed?
Cunning Stunts was filmed on May 9 and 10, 1997, at the Fort Worth Convention Center arena, on the Poor Touring Me tour for Load. Wayne Isham directed it, and Elektra released it on DVD and VHS on December 8, 1998.
Where did Metallica play in Texas in 1989?
On the Damaged Justice tour Metallica played twelve Texas cities between January 17 and February 5, 1989, with Queensrÿche opening that leg: Waco, Odessa, Lubbock, El Paso, Amarillo, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Abilene, San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas’s Reunion Arena. It came back to Houston and Dallas that August with The Cult.
Which Metallica songs were recorded live in Dallas in 1989?
The 2018 remastered box set of ...And Justice for All includes For Whom the Bell Tolls, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Seek & Destroy and Creeping Death recorded live at Reunion Arena, Dallas, on February 5, 1989.
When did Metallica play Arlington?
Metallica played AT&T Stadium in Arlington on June 16, 2017, on the WorldWired tour. It played Globe Life Field on November 27, 2021, at the Triad Combat event, and AT&T Stadium twice on the M72 World Tour: August 18, 2023, with Pantera and Mammoth WVH, and August 20, 2023, with Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills.
