IRON MAIDEN, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX In San Antonio, TX With Photos!

Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 10:36 AM

By Larry Petro @petrofyed

The Run For Your Lives Tour Concludes It US Run In A Big Way On September 29th

Live Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

Man, what a way to end a tour! After a run of 12 hugely successful shows across the U.S. from the beginning of September, metal giants IRON MAIDEN, for the second tour in a row chose to close out their trek in San Antonio, Texas. But unlike the bands previous show here in 2024 at the end of The Future Past Tour at Frost Bank Center (capacity around 19,000 and drummer Nicko McBrain's final show on U.S. soil with the band), MAIDEN went big this time, setting up shop in the Alamodome, an imposing venue that I have passed by many times on visits to the Alamo City but a place I had never been inside of for an event.

Some 53,000+ metal maniacs descended in San Antonio from all across Texas, hell even the world for that matter, to catch the final show of the band's U.S. dates and the last ones for at least another year as the band plans to take all of 2027 off (except for Bruce Dickinson, who has hinted at another solo album and tour dates surrounding its release). And if frontman Bruce Dickinson is to be believed, this show was the biggest on the U.S. tour and the largest ever for the band in Texas, a testament of just how insanely popular they remain in the Lone Star State.

Joining the tour as they had for a handful of other shows, we got thrash veterans ANTHRAX giving us one half of the 'Big Four' along with MEGADETH. Celebrating 45 years themselves, ANTHRAX just released a new album 'Cursum Perficio', the band's twelfth, just a week and a half prior. But from the moment the band took the stage to "Caught In A Mosh" something was amiss. I immediately noticed that the drummer was not Charlie Benante, but some other chap wearing a baseball cap. Vocalist Joey Belladonna would later address the issue stating that Charlie woke up that morning throwing up. They called good friend Mike Heller (RAVEN, ex-FEAR FACTORY drummer), who just happened to be in town for the show (to attend I presume?). They asked if he knew any of ANTHRAX's material, which he did not but he came in and met with the band for about 30 minutes and quickly learned some of the tracks. And though their set would end up being shorter because of Charlie's absence, Mike did an absolute bang-up job (see what I did there?) of tackling the hits including "Madhouse", "Antisocial", "Got The Time" and "Indians". Despite the setback the band delivered 100% as they always do.

Setlist:

"Caught In A Mosh"
"Madhouse"
"Antisocial" (TRUST Cover)
"Got The Time" (Joe Jackson Cover)
"Indians"

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MEGADETH took the stage next on what is presumably the band's final tour following the release of the band's final album, a self-titled opus that dropped at the beginning of the year giving them 17 studio albums over their 40+ year career. I'll be honest, given the fact that this was their final tour I had expected this to be a greatest hits kind of affair, with maybe a song or two from the new album. And while we did get a song from the new album ("Tipping Point") and a couple of hits, there were a few lesser-known cuts from a couple of their classic albums comprising the first three we photographers got to shoot, "Devil's Island", "The Conjuring" and "Take No Prisoners". From there, more familiar tunes commenced including "Sweating Bullets", "Tornado of Souls", "Symphony of Destruction" and "Peace Sells".

I had seen other reviews of MEGADETH's recent performances and most did not speak to highly of how Dave Mustaine sounded vocally. Obviously if you've even seen them before, Mustaine doesn't move around too much and isn't as animated as others in the genre but I found his voice to be in fairly good shape throughout the show and his axe wielding skills were as good as ever as he traded off solos with fellow guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari. Bassist James LoMenzo was as active as I've ever seen him and Dirk Verbeuren was an absolute beast behind the kit. The one thing I did observe was that Dave just seems to be tired and I guess anyone at his age, after relentless touring, would be but it still didn't take away from this performance.

As the show came to a close Mustaine brought up the fact that this was the last album and tour and mentioned that he was having issues with his hands. God bless him if this is the case because I did not notice any issues with his playing. If this is truly the end for MEGADETH then let me just say thanks Dave, for all the great music and memories over the years.

Setlist:

"Devil's Island"
"The Conjuring"
"Take No Prisoners"
"Sweating Bullets"
"Tipping Point"
"Tornado of Souls"
"Symphony of Destruction"
"Peace Sells"
"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"

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My first exposure to IRON MAIDEN came in the form of a radio station promo cassette for 'Killers' that I had found one day while I was in high school. From the opening instrumental of "The Ides of March" and into "Wrathchild" I was hooked and forever became a fan. Even back in the early years as they rose to superstardom visuals have always been an integral part of their live shows, whether it's the stage setup itself, the massive inflatables they've used over the years, or the most recent years of rotating backdrops. You could count on getting your money's worth at an IRON MAIDEN show and they've made it a point to keep trying to outdo themselves in that regard. This tour was the ultimate example of that, with the backdrops being replaced by a stage-wide massive LED screen that would bring the band's music and stories to life in a way like never before.

As the lights dimmed and the all-too-familiar sounds of UFO's "Doctor Doctor" blared through the PA the screen came to life like an insect flying through the animated streets of London, highlighting places from the band's history. The scene then switched to a backdrop of Paris as "The Ides of March" played and drummer Simon Dawson (who also plays in bassist Steve Harris' side project BRITISH LION) took his place behind the kit, a much simpler, stripped down version than his predecessor Nick McBrain. Then in a burst of pyro MAIDEN took the stage as the launched into "Murders In The Rue Morgue" and the crowd went nuts. Keeping their foot on the gas they continued with two more from the 'Killers' album with "Wrathchild" and the title track before going back to their self-titled debut and "Phantom of The Opera".

As I mentioned earlier, the LED backdrop brought the artwork of the band's singles to life, most notably in tracks like "Infinite Dreams" (which was added to the setlist after almost 4 decades away), "Powerslave" and "Two Minutes To Midnight". But nowhere was the inclusion of the animated screen more apparent and noteworthy than during the performance of "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner". An entire mini-movie played out on the screen during the song as Bruce stalked the elevated platform at the back of the stage in tattered clothes, mimicking those of the captain in the song's story.

The setlist for this tour was probably one of the best the band has ever done, with hit after hit like "Run To The Hills", "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", "The Trooper", Hallowed Be Thy Name" and the band's namesake "Iron Maiden" pummeling the sold out crowd into metal-induced submission. Even the 3 song encore of "Aces High", "Fear of The Dark" and "Wasted Years" was enough to satisfy even the most diehard of fans and leave everyone completely spent as they filed out of the venue and into the Texas night.

My ONLY criticism of the set was one that was brought up right from the start of the tour in Europe and it was the fact that the tour was billed as being songs from the first album up through 'No Prayer For The Dying' and at least one song was played from each of them except NPFTD. They could have easily added at least one tune from that album like "Tailgunner", "Holy Smoke" or even "Bring Your Daughter...To The Slaughter" and only added a few minutes to the show and why they didn't I guess will remain a mystery. Still, a minor disappointment in what was otherwise one of the best shows I have ever seen from the band. The entire band was in top form and Bruce Dickinson's voice was as good as I've ever heard him. This was definitely a show for the ages and if you missed it, well you only have yourself to blame. IRON MAIDEN are like KISS in one regard: You owe it to yourself to see them at least once in your lifetime.

A huge shoutout to Victor Caballero and the rest of the staff at the Alamodome for their professionalism and hospitality for us in the media! EVERY other venue could learn something from them about how to treat the media. Victor summed it up best when he explained his approach to the media: 'You're telling our story.'

My sincerest gratitude also to IRON MAIDEN and their management and PR team in their unwavering support in accommodating us at The Loudest Dot Com On The Planet and allowing us to capture these legendary moments!

Setlist:

"Doctor Doctor" (UFO song) (PA)
"The Ides of March"
"Murders In The Rue Morgue"
"Wrathchild"
"Killers"
"Phantom of The Opera"
"The Number of The Beast"
"Infinite Dreams"
"Powerslave"
"2 Minutes To Midnight"
"Rime of The Ancient Mariner"
"Run To The Hills"
"Seventh Son of A Seventh Son"
"The Trooper"
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"
"Iron Maiden"