# The metal band Metallica destroyed in 1988: “Can you please put ’em on after us?”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-metal-band-metallica-destroyed-in-1988-can-you-please-put-em-on-after-us/
- Published: 2026-07-25T03:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-28T01:34:35+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/metal-band-metallica-destoryed-in-1988/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Dokken struggled to follow Metallica on the 1988 Monsters of Rock tour.
- Don Dokken requested a running-order swap.
- Metallica’s growing live reputation made them a formidable support act.

## Summary

In 1988, Dokken asked to switch places with Metallica on the US Monsters of Rock tour because Metallica’s increasingly intense performances were making Dokken look comparatively weak. The episode illustrates Metallica’s rapid rise from a support act to a major live draw, while exposing the difficulty faced by more melodic hard-rock bands competing with thrash metal’s growing popularity.

The stadium tour featured Van Halen as headliner, followed by Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come. Dokken singer Don Dokken said his band was earning twice as much as Metallica, but manager Cliff Burnstein refused the proposed change; Metallica needed earlier slots to travel for mixing sessions for its fourth album, *…And Justice for All*.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.