Heavy metal veterans METAL CHURCH made their U.S. live debut with the band's newest lineup on Friday, July 17, at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, New Hampshire, officially kicking off a run of North American tour dates.
The revamped roster pairs founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof and longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt with bassist David Ellefson (MEGADETH), drummer Ken Mary (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, FIFTH ANGEL, ALICE COOPER) and new vocalist Brian Allen (VICIOUS RUMORS). According to Setlist.fm, the band leaned heavily on its catalog for the Derry show, opening with "Ton Of Bricks" and running through "Start The Fire," "Fake Healer," "Gods Of Wrath," "F.A.F.O.," "Badlands," "Date With Poverty," "Watch The Children Pray" and "Brainwash Game," before giving "Dead To Rights" its live debut. The band closed with an encore of "Beyond The Black" and "Metal Church."
The lineup first played together internationally on May 17 at San Luis Metal Fest in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, sharing the bill with ARMORED SAINT. Speaking about that debut show on "The David Ellefson Show," Ellefson said the one-off Mexico gig doubled as a launch pad for the tour now underway: "It gave a perfect opportunity to just sort of ramp up, get rehearsed... And then we did only one show, 'cause the rest of it now starts up here in mid-July." He praised his new bandmate's stage presence, saying, "The band played great, sounded great. I was very impressed with Brian Allen as a frontman... Once you hit the stage, the adrenaline hits, and you turn on the charisma. So he had it, and it was great."
The current lineup follows the release of METAL CHURCH's 13th studio album, "Dead To Rights," in April 2026, which introduced Ellefson on bass following a period of lineup turmoil. With the North American leg now underway following the Derry show, METAL CHURCH continues to lean on both its classic catalog and its newest material to reintroduce the band to U.S. audiences behind its latest lineup.