May 2026
Concert Tours

Guns N' Roses — Axl, Slash, Duff — are bringing their World Tour 2026 to North America with a couple Florida stops this month before the full summer stadium run kicks off. The band that defined hard rock in the late 80s, still delivering that raw energy three decades later. Say what you want about the lineup drama over the years, but when these three are on stage together it still hits.

May catches them at the tail end of their South American leg with two Florida shows: a Hard Rock Live appearance in Hollywood on May 5th and then headlining Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach on May 7th. Festival-scale GNR means you are getting “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child O' Mine,” “Paradise City,” the full catalog. The summer US tour does not fully kick off until July, but these Florida shows are your chance to catch them early.

Alice Cooper's Alice's Attic Tour is hitting theaters across the US this spring and May is packed with dates. Guillotines, fake blood, theatrics spanning five decades of rock history. Alice is 76 years old and still putting on shows that would exhaust performers half his age. That kind of commitment to the craft is something I respect deeply.

Expect “School's Out,” “Poison,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and “Feed My Frankenstein” plus deep cuts the hardcore fans wait for. The Alice's Attic concept brings a darker, more intimate vibe to his usual arena spectacle and these theater shows are selling out. If you have never seen an Alice Cooper show, it is genuinely a bucket list experience. Not just a concert but a full rock and roll horror movie brought to life on stage.

The M72 World Tour has been one of the most ambitious tours in rock history and Metallica is spending May working through Europe. Their “No Repeat Weekend” format means two nights in select cities with completely different setlists each night, plus the in-the-round stage setup at mid-field. No bad seats. The production is as dialed in as anything they have ever done.

May has them hitting stadiums across Athens, Bucharest, Poland, Frankfurt (two nights), Zürich, and Berlin. Support comes from Gojira and Knocked Loose on most dates with Pantera and Avatar joining for the No Repeat Weekends. The setlists pull from 72 Seasons plus the catalog staples you need to hear live: “Master of Puppets,” “Enter Sandman,” “One,” “Nothing Else Matters.” US fans have to wait until the Vegas Sphere residency in the fall, but this European run is worth following.

Iron Maiden is celebrating 50 years and the Run For Your Lives World Tour reflects that. Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, and the band are delivering a setlist focused entirely on their first nine albums (1980-1992), which means the peak era of British heavy metal front to back. “The Trooper,” “Run to the Hills,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “Number of the Beast,” “Powerslave,” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Deep cuts and anthems together.

May catches their European leg with shows in Athens, Sofia, and Bucharest with Anthrax as support. Massive outdoor stadium shows with production only Iron Maiden can pull off: Eddie making appearances, pyro, the full spectacle. The North American leg does not kick off until September (with Megadeth and Anthrax), but if you are in Europe this month these shows are worth the trip. Fifty years of metal history is something worth seeing in person.

Megadeth is on their farewell tour and May has a significant moment: they are playing Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 17th alongside Tool and Godsmack. Dave Mustaine and the band going out on their own terms after decades of defining thrash metal alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax as the Big Four. That is a legacy worth respecting.

The farewell run means we are getting the full catalog: “Holy Wars... The Punishment Due,” “Symphony of Destruction,” “Peace Sells,” “Hangar 18,” plus tracks from their latest self-titled album. The Sonic Temple appearance is part of their festival circuit before they join Iron Maiden as support for the North American run later this year. If you are a thrash fan, this is your last chance to see one of the genre's founding bands perform at full power. Hard to watch them go, but what a run it has been.