Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour

The Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American rock bands Guns N' Roses and Metallica during 1992. It took place in the middle of Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour, promoting their Use Your Illusion I and II albums, and between Metallica's Wherever We May Roam Tour and Nowhere Else to Roam, promoting their eponymous fifth album Metallica. The tour's initial opening act was Faith No More as Axl Rose had originally wanted Seattle rock band Nirvana to be the opening act, but frontman Kurt Cobain refused.^[1]

Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour

Tour by Guns N' Roses and Metallica
A poster for the concert on August 12, 1992 in Denver, Colorado, which was postponed due to James Hetfield's injuries in Montreal
Associated album	Use Your Illusion I Use Your Illusion II Metallica Angel Dust
Start date	July 17, 1992
End date	October 6, 1992
No. of shows	26
Guns N' Roses tour chronology Use Your Illusion Tour (1991–1992) Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour (1992) Use Your Illusion Tour (1992–1993) Metallica tour chronology Wherever We May Roam Tour (1991–1992) Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour (1992) Nowhere Else to Roam (1993)

History

"When you have to get Guns N' Roses and Metallica on the same tour to sell tickets, it shows everyone that you have to put real big packaging together to make a difference."

—Ronnie James Dio, on WERS' Nasty Habits show^[2]

On May 12, 1992, Metallica's drummer, Lars Ulrich, and Guns N' Roses' lead guitarist, Slash, held a press conference at the Gaslight in Los Angeles, California, announcing that both Metallica and Guns N' Roses would tour together that summer, beginning in Washington, D.C., at RFK Stadium on July 17, 1992. Footage of Metallica's opening song "Creeping Death" was later recorded for their documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.

On July 22, 1992, at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana; Blind Melon's lead vocalist, Shannon Hoon, joined Guns N' Roses onstage for the original version of their song "Don't Cry".

Following James Hetfield's injuries stemming from his burns during their ill-fated performance in Montreal, the tour resumed in Avondale, Arizona, at the Phoenix International Raceway on August 25, 1992, with Hetfield wearing a thick elbow-to-finger bandage and unable to play guitar until his arm was fully healed. Former Metallica roadie, former Metallica guitar tech, and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall filled in for the rest of the tour on rhythm guitar, while Hetfield continued to sing. Metallica's performance of "Nothing Else Matters" was recorded for their documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.

Faith No More lead guitarist Jim Martin joined Metallica onstage for their cover of the Misfits song "Last Caress" on September 5, 1992, at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas.

Body Count was hired to open the tour on September 22, 1992 after Faith No More was fired from the bill the day prior. Body Count performed their first concert as the opening act in Kansas City, Missouri, at Arrowhead Stadium on September 17, 1992, and continued opening for the rest of the tour, along with Motörhead on the last three dates of the tour. Motörhead opened for the show at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, on September 27, 1992, as Body Count was dropped from the bill for the Coliseum show.

Comedian Andrew Dice Clay introduced Guns N' Roses before they came onstage on October 3, 1992 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.

The tour was financially successful for Metallica, however; Guns N' Roses did not benefit nearly as much. According to Slash, in his self-titled autobiography, the band lost about 80% of their earnings primarily due to Rose's extravagant spending, which included funding expensive backstage theme parties at every show, as well as the band being fined heavily for multiple late appearances. The tour also earned both bands a Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award in 1992, when it was voted "Best Concert Tour".^[3]

Incidents

• On July 21, 1992, when Guns N' Roses was performing at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, when the band was done performing their song "You Could Be Mine", Axl Rose vomited onstage and left soon afterwards, but returned to the stage and apologized to the audience for the poor performance, so the band performed the song again.
• On July 29, 1992, while Guns N' Roses was performing during the second show at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, frontman Axl Rose encountered severe pain in his throat, but continued the show until he was hit in the genitals by a cigarette lighter thrown from the audience during "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", forcing him to retreat backstage to recover, while bassist Duff McKagan took over on vocals as the set would be immediately be cut short soon afterwards.
• On July 30, 1992, while on a rest day in New York City, Rose was diagnosed with severe damage to his vocal chords, and was told by doctors that he could not sing for at least a week, resulting in three shows of the tour being rescheduled.
• On September 21, 1992, Faith No More was fired from the tour due in large part to the band's dissatisfaction with Guns N' Roses' management and singer Mike Patton's obscene retaliatory behavior in which he allegedly urinated on Axl Rose's teleprompter.^[4]

Montreal Riot

On August 8, 1992, during the performance at Montreal's Olympic Stadium; several songs into Metallica's set, during the song Fade to Black,^[5] frontman and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield was accidentally burned by improper pyrotechnics forcing the band to cut their set short as Hetfield was rushed to the hospital. After Hetfield was taken to the hospital, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, bassist Jason Newsted and drummer Lars Ulrich promised a makeup concert to quell the sold-out crowd of 54,666. After lengthy delay, the audience became increasingly impatient as Guns N' Roses eventually took the stage after a two and a half hour wait. However; the shortened time between sets did not allow for adequate tuning of the band's stage monitors, resulting in multiple band members noticing audial issues. Singer Axl Rose later blamed the issues on bad audio and vocal problems stemming from his diagnosis on July 30.^[6] Rose forced the band to end their set short after performing only nine songs, then proclaiming to the crowd "This is going to be the last you'll hear from us in a long time, I'm out" before throwing his microphone and storming offstage.^[7] Following the set, an estimated crowd of 2,000 people began rioting within the stadium and surrounding areas, the fans would overturn police cars, loot various souvenir booths, and set multiple bonfires within the stadium causing an estimated $600,000 in damage to the stadium and surrounding areas. Footage from the incident was later included in Metallica's 1992 documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. According to multiple reports from Metallica's road crew, in addition to guitarist Kirk Hammett, Rose showed little remorse for the incident following the mayhem, and was even reported by Hammett to have returned to his dressing room drinking with other band members while the bands were forced to remain inside the Expos' locker rooms during the destruction.

Six shows were forced to be rescheduled due to Hetfield's injuries, including a cancelled performance in Vancouver at BC Place for August 17.^[8]

On August 27, 1992 during a performance of U2's Zoo TV Tour, frontman Bono jokingly imitated Rose regarding the incident to the crowd, asking fans "Oh hey, what time is it? looks like we gotta go!".^[9]

Metallica would later perform two half-priced shows at the Montreal Forum in February 1993. The Régie banned Guns N' Roses for life from the venue.^[10]

On August 11 and 13, 2023, as part of their M72 world tour playing two shows for every city, Metallica returned to the Olympic Stadium for the first time since the events.^[11]

Guns N' Roses setlists

First setlist

(Taken from the Orchard Park, New York, Rich Stadium show on July 25, 1992)

1. "Nightrain"
2. "Mr. Brownstone"
3. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
4. "Attitude" (Misfits cover)
5. "Bad Obsession"
6. "Double Talkin' Jive"
7. "Civil War"
8. "Wild Horses" (The Rolling Stones cover)
9. "Patience"
10. "It's So Easy"
11. "Welcome to the Jungle"
12. "You Could Be Mine"
13. "It's Alright" (Black Sabbath cover)
14. "November Rain"
15. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
16. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)
17. "Don't Cry (Original)"
18. "Paradise City"

Second setlist

(Taken from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Three Rivers Stadium show on July 26, 1992)

1. "It's So Easy"
2. "Nightrain"
3. "Mr. Brownstone"
4. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
5. "Attitude" (Misfits cover)
6. "Bad Obsession"
7. "Double Talkin' Jive"
8. "Civil War"
9. "Move to the City"
10. "Wild Horses" (The Rolling Stones cover)
11. "Patience"
12. "Welcome to the Jungle"
13. "You Could Be Mine"
14. "November Rain"
15. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
16. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)
17. "Don't Cry (Original)"
18. "Paradise City"

Third setlist

(Taken from the Houston, Texas, Astrodome show on September 4, 1992)

1. "Welcome to the Jungle"
2. "Mr. Brownstone"
3. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
4. "Attitude" (Misfits cover)
5. "Nightrain"
6. "Bad Obsession"
7. "It's So Easy"
8. "Wild Horses" (The Rolling Stones cover)
9. "Patience"
10. "Double Talkin' Jive"
11. "Civil War"
12. "It's Alright" (Black Sabbath cover)
13. "November Rain"
14. "You Could Be Mine"
15. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
16. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)
17. "Don't Cry (Original)"
18. "Paradise City"

Fourth setlist

(Taken from the Columbia, South Carolina, Williams-Brice Stadium show on September 7, 1992)

1. "Welcome to the Jungle"
2. "Mr. Brownstone"
3. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
4. "Attitude" (Misfits cover)
5. "It's So Easy"
6. "Bad Obsession"
7. "Nightrain"
8. "Double Talkin' Jive"
9. "Civil War"
10. "Move to the City"
11. "Wild Horses" (The Rolling Stones cover)
12. "Patience"
13. "You Could Be Mine"
14. "It's Alright" (Black Sabbath cover)
15. "November Rain"
16. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
17. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)
18. "Paradise City"

Fifth setlist

(Taken from the Foxborough, Massachusetts, Foxboro Stadium show on September 11, 1992)

1. "Welcome to the Jungle"
2. "Mr. Brownstone"
3. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
4. "Attitude" (Misfits cover)
5. "It's So Easy"
6. "Double Talkin' Jive"
7. "Civil War"
8. "Wild Horses" (The Rolling Stones cover)
9. "Patience"
10. "Nightrain"
11. "Out ta Get Me"
12. "You Could Be Mine"
13. "It's Alright" (Black Sabbath cover)
14. "November Rain"
15. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
16. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)
17. "Don't Cry (Original)"
18. "Paradise City"

Sixth setlist

(Taken from the San Diego, California, Jack Murphy Stadium show on September 30, 1992)

1. "Welcome to the Jungle"
2. "It's So Easy"
3. "Mr. Brownstone"
4. "Nightrain"
5. "Attitude" (Misfits cover)
6. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
7. "Bad Obsession"
8. "Wild Horses" (The Rolling Stones cover)
9. "Patience"
10. "Double Talkin' Jive"
11. "Civil War"
12. "You Could Be Mine"
13. "It's Alright" (Black Sabbath cover)
14. "November Rain"
15. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
16. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)
17. "Don't Cry (Original)"
18. "Paradise City"

Metallica setlists

First setlist

(Taken from the Orchard Park, New York, Rich Stadium show on July 25, 1992)

1. "Creeping Death"
2. "Harvester of Sorrow"
3. "Fade to Black"
4. "Sad but True"
5. "Wherever I May Roam"
6. "Of Wolf and Man"
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
8. "The Unforgiven"
9. "The Shortest Straw"
10. "Bass Solo"
11. "Guitar Solo"
12. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
13. "Master of Puppets"
14. "Seek & Destroy"
15. "Whiplash"
16. "Nothing Else Matters"
17. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
18. "Last Caress" (Misfits cover)
19. "One"
20. "Enter Sandman"

Second setlist

(Taken from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Three Rivers Stadium show on July 26, 1992)

1. "Creeping Death"
2. "Harvester of Sorrow"
3. "Fade to Black"
4. "Sad but True"
5. "Wherever I May Roam"
6. "Of Wolf and Man"
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
8. "The Unforgiven"
9. "The Shortest Straw"
10. "Bass Solo"
11. "Guitar Solo"
12. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
13. "Master of Puppets"
14. "Seek & Destroy"
15. "Whiplash"
16. "Nothing Else Matters"
17. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
18. "Last Caress" (Misfits cover)
19. "One"
20. "Enter Sandman"

Third setlist

(Taken from the Houston, Texas, Astrodome show on September 4, 1992)

1. "Creeping Death"
2. "Harvester of Sorrow"
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
4. "Sad but True"
5. "Wherever I May Roam"
6. "Of Wolf and Man"
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
8. "The Unforgiven"
9. "The Shortest Straw"
10. "Bass Solo"
11. "Guitar Solo"
12. "Fade to Black"
13. "Master of Puppets"
14. "Seek & Destroy"
15. "Whiplash"
16. "Nothing Else Matters"
17. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
18. "Last Caress" (Misfits cover)
19. "One"
20. "Enter Sandman"

Fourth setlist

(Taken from the Columbia, South Carolina, Williams-Brice Stadium show on September 7, 1992)

1. "Creeping Death"
2. "Harvester of Sorrow"
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
4. "Sad but True"
5. "Wherever I May Roam"
6. "Of Wolf and Man"
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
8. "The Unforgiven"
9. "The Shortest Straw"
10. "Bass Solo"
11. "Guitar Solo"
12. "Fade to Black"
13. "Master of Puppets"
14. "Seek & Destroy"
15. "Whiplash"
16. "Nothing Else Matters"
17. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
18. "Last Caress" (Misfits cover)
19. "One"
20. "Enter Sandman"

Fifth setlist

(Taken from the Foxborough, Massachusetts, Foxboro Stadium show on September 11, 1992)

1. "Creeping Death"
2. "Harvester of Sorrow"
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
4. "Sad but True"
5. "Wherever I May Roam"
6. "Of Wolf and Man"
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
8. "The Unforgiven"
9. "The Shortest Straw"
10. "Bass Solo"
11. "Guitar Solo"
12. "Fade to Black"
13. "Master of Puppets"
14. "Seek & Destroy"
15. "Whiplash"
16. "Nothing Else Matters"
17. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
18. "Last Caress" (Misfits cover)
19. "One"
20. "Enter Sandman"

Sixth setlist

(Taken from the San Diego, California, Jack Murphy Stadium show on September 30, 1992)

1. "Creeping Death"
2. "Harvester of Sorrow"
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
4. "Sad but True"
5. "Wherever I May Roam"
6. "Of Wolf and Man"
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
8. "The Unforgiven"
9. "The Shortest Straw"
10. "Bass Solo"
11. "Guitar Solo"
12. "Fade to Black"
13. "Master of Puppets"
14. "Seek & Destroy"
15. "Whiplash"
16. "Nothing Else Matters"
17. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
18. "Last Caress" (Misfits cover)
19. "One"
20. "Enter Sandman"

Tour dates

See also: Wherever We May Roam Tour

See also: Use Your Illusion Tour

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Revenue
July 17, 1992	Washington, D.C.	United States	RFK Stadium	47,498 / 47,498 (100%)	$1,306,195
July 18, 1992	East Rutherford		Giants Stadium	54,300 / 54,300 (100%)	$1,479,830
July 21, 1992	Pontiac		Pontiac Silverdome	47,540 / 47,540 (100%)	$1,378,660
July 22, 1992	Indianapolis		Hoosier Dome	38,900 / 46,000 (85%)	$1,039,720
July 25, 1992	Orchard Park		Rich Stadium	44,833 / 59,326 (76%)	$1,322,574
July 26, 1992	Pittsburgh		Three Rivers Stadium	49,345 / 49,345 (100%)	$1,356,988
July 29, 1992	East Rutherford		Giants Stadium	49,250 / 55,000 (90%)	$1,338,618
August 8, 1992	Montreal	Canada	Olympic Stadium	54,666 / 54,666 (100%)	$610,674
August 9, 1992	Toronto		Skydome	Postponed	—
August 12, 1992	Denver	United States	Mile High Stadium	Postponed	—
August 14, 1992	San Diego		Jack Murphy Stadium	Postponed	—
August 17, 1992	Vancouver	Canada	BC Place	Cancelled	—
August 18, 1992	Seattle	United States	Kingdome	Postponed	—
August 21, 1992	Oakland		Oakland Coliseum	Postponed	—
August 22, 1992	Pasadena		Rose Bowl	Postponed	—
August 25, 1992	Avondale	United States	Phoenix International Raceway	29,903 / 29,903 (100%)	$794,820
August 27, 1992	Las Cruces		Aggie Memorial Stadium	35,373 / 35,373 (100%)	$972,758
August 29, 1992	New Orleans		Louisiana Superdome	39,278 / 39,278 (100%)	$1,080,145
August 31, 1992*	Atlanta		Lakewood Amphitheatre	—	—
September 2, 1992	Orlando		Citrus Bowl	48,035 / 50,000 (96%)	$1,320,963
September 4, 1992	Houston		Astrodome	44,025 / 44,025 (100%)	$1,191,601
September 5, 1992	Irving		Texas Stadium	44,391 / 44,391 (100%)	$1,220,753
September 7, 1992	Columbia		Williams-Brice Stadium	37,716 / 40,136 (94%)	$1,037,190
September 11, 1992	Foxborough		Foxboro Stadium	51,038 / 51,038 (100%)	$1,402,335
September 13, 1992	Toronto	Canada	Exhibition Stadium	49,888 / 49,888 (100%)	$1,332,917
September 15, 1992	Minneapolis	United States	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	43,292 / 43,292 (100%)	$1,190,530
September 17, 1992	Kansas City		Arrowhead Stadium	36,356 / 43,500 (84%)	$999,790
September 19, 1992	Denver		Mile High Stadium	44,096 / 44,096 (100%)	$161,377
September 24, 1992	Oakland		Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	59,800 / 59,800 (100%)	$1,650,668
September 27, 1992	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Coliseum	35,293 / 45,000 (78%)	$932,570
September 30, 1992	San Diego		Jack Murphy Stadium	42,167 / 45,938 (92%)	$1,159,593
October 3, 1992	Pasadena		Rose Bowl Stadium	68,639 / 68,639 (100%)	$1,852,978
October 6, 1992	Seattle		Kingdome	37,226 / 40,000 (93%)	$1,023,715

Personnel

Guns N' Roses

• W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, whistle, whistling, tambourine
• Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals, talkbox
• Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals
• Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, organ, synthesizer, percussion, tambourine
• Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Metallica

• James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion
• Jason Newsted – bass, backing vocals
• John Marshall – rhythm guitar (August 25 – October 6)

Faith No More (July 17-removed September 21)

• Mike Patton – lead vocals
• Jim Martin – lead guitar, backing vocals, rhythm guitar on "Last Caress" during Metallica's set
• Billy Gould – bass, backing vocals
• Mike Bordin – drums
• Roddy Bottum – keyboards, backing vocals

Motörhead (September 27-October 6)

• Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister – lead vocals, bass
• Phil "Wizzö" Campbell – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Würzel – lead guitar
• Mickey Dee – drums

Body Count (September 17-October 6)

• Ice-T – lead vocals
• Ernie C – lead guitar
• D-Roc the Executioner – rhythm guitar
• Mooseman – bass
• Beatmaster V – drums

Touring musicians for Guns N' Roses

• Teddy Andreadis – keyboards, backing vocals, harmonica, tambourine
• Roberta Freeman – backing vocals, tambourine
• Traci Amos – backing vocals, tambourine
• Diane Jones – backing vocals, tambourine
• Anne King – trumpet
• Cece Worrall-Rubin – saxophone
• Lisa Maxwell – saxophone

Additional musicians for Guns N' Roses

• Shannon Hoon – backing vocals on "Don't Cry" (Original) (July 22, 1992)

References

1. Azerrad, Michael (1993). Come as You are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-385-47199-2.
2. WERS Nasty Habits, recorded at New York City's China Club, August 6, 1992
3. Metal Edge, April 1993
4. "The Time Mike Patton Peed on Axl Rose's Teleprompter". May 28, 2021.
5. "JASON NEWSTED: JAMES HETFIELD'S PYRO ACCIDENT SAVED METALLICA". Revolver (magazine). January 28, 2022.
6. Lepage, Mark (July 14, 2017). "Welcome back to the jungle: the 1992 Metallica/Guns N' Roses debacle". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
7. "Guns n' Roses/ Metallica Riot In Montreal 28 Years Ago Aug 8 1992, as Remembered By Perrin Wolfson". August 8, 2020.
8. "Metallica at BC Place Stadium August 17th, 1992 - CANCELLED".
9. "Why Guns N Roses and Metallica Ended in a Riot". August 8, 2015.
10. "Guns 'N' Roses returns to Montreal: No riot this time". CTV News. Montreal. January 28, 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
11. Luft, Amy (November 28, 2022). "Metallica to play two shows at Montreal's Olympic Stadium next summer". CTV News. Montreal. Retrieved February 12, 2023.