Metallica’s 1983 Yonkers Show: The Night the Rising Sun Rock Club Made Heavy Metal History
- A.J. Chiarella (“The 914 Guy”)
- Nov 17
- 2 min read
Before Metallica was selling out stadiums around the world, they were ripping through small clubs with a level of intensity that was impossible to ignore. One of those early stops? Yonkers, New York. July 29, 1983. The Rising Sun Rock Club.
This wasn’t just another tour date — it was part of the band’s Kill ’Em All for One Tour, the first major U.S. run supporting their debut album Kill ’Em All.Metallica was young, loud, unpolished, and hungry. And for one night, that energy was unleashed in the heart of Yonkers.
👉 Official Metallica Tour Page:https://www.metallica.com/tour/1983-07-29-yonkers-new-york.html
Why the Yonkers Show Matters
For fans and historians, the Rising Sun show stands out for a few reasons:
It’s one of Metallica’s earliest documented New York–area performances.
They were still the opening act, supporting Raven on the tour.
The setlist was pure early Metallica, pulling straight from Kill ’Em All.
It took place in a small, gritty club — a far cry from the arenas they’d dominate just a few years later.
Yonkers wasn’t a detour. It was part of the band’s foundation.
The Setlist (Pure 1983 Thrash Energy)
According to Metallica’s tour history, the Yonkers performance included early staples like:
Hit the Lights
The Four Horsemen
Whiplash
Seek & Destroy
No Remorse
Metal Militia
These songs were brand new at the time — not classics yet, just raw material from a band on the verge of changing heavy metal forever.
The Rising Sun Rock Club
The Rising Sun was a small Yonkers rock club known for hosting loud, fast, and heavy acts. There aren’t many surviving photos, but longtime locals remember it as a packed, sweaty, no-nonsense venue — exactly the kind of room Metallica’s early shows thrived in.
The idea that Metallica once unleashed their earliest material on that stage is a reminder of how deep Yonkers’ music roots run.
Yonkers as an Early Stop for Legendary Acts
Metallica’s Rising Sun performance adds to a list of surprising “before they blew up” shows that happened right here in Yonkers. It’s a story that locals love to tell — but it’s also an important marker in New York music history.
The fact that Yonkers appears on Metallica’s official tour archive says it all.
A Rare, Underrated Moment in Heavy Metal History
Small-room Metallica footage and stories from 1983 are scarce, which makes this Yonkers date even more valuable to fans. This was Metallica at maximum velocity — before radio, before MTV, before the mainstream.
If you were there, you witnessed something special. And if you weren’t, the best you can do is imagine what it felt like when “Seek & Destroy” shook a Yonkers club to its core.
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