At the beginning of 2022 it was announced that W.A.S.P. would be hitting the road to celebrate 40 years with an anniversary tour that would include Armored Saint, who would be celebrating the same. On a handful of dates Michael Schenker would be added to the bill, and lucky for me Dallas was one of those dates. The one and only time I saw W.A.S.P. was in 1985 when they opened for Iron Maiden. That same year I saw Armored Saint when they toured with Metallica. As for Schenker, this would be my first time see the fretboard master, so this show couldn’t come fast enough.
Armored Saint would be in support of their most recent releases: Punching the Sky, which dropped in 2020, and 2021’s Symbol of Salvation Live, featuring the 2005 classic live, in its entirety, along with some early demos on the digital and vinyl versions. Schenker would be on tour in support of the 2022 release, Universal, under the Michael Schenker Group moniker. W.A.S.P.’s last studio release was Golgatha, in 2005 but, as you may or may not know, the band did not perform on this night due to issues with the venue. Not gonna lie, but my night was made seeing the two openers.