A lineup of fans wrapped around half of Queen Elizabeth Theatre on March 29th for a night fueled by pure American metal with guitar legend Zakk Wylde leading the charge. With the tour announced in late 2025, it’s easy to assume that the Toronto chapter is ecstatic that Zakk is taking both Black Label Society AND Zakk Sabbath on Canadian soil with Dark Chapel as a great cherry on top. The “North America Tour 2026” started at the end of February in San Antonio and will see its end back down South in Nashville after making a couple stops in Canada before crossing the border a final time. And so naturally, fans in Southern Ontario flocked to the city to catch this special gathering of straight-up shredding.
The night opened with Dark Chapel, a project led by Dario Lorina (of BLS) that immediately set a darker and moodier tone inside the Theatre. Their set leaned into a more atmospheric and modern hard rock sound, balancing brooding riffs with melodic hooks with his guitar prowess on full display. It was also an extra special night for the city with Canada’s own Tim Reaper helping on guitar too. Before a quick outro jam, Dario made sure to ask the crowd if the band could ever come back to their fair city, and they were enthusiastic in their support. As both an opener and a member of the headliner, his presence created an interesting throughline for the night. It was almost like a preview before stepping into a much larger sonic soundscape later on.
Next came Zakk Sabbath, the passion project of Zakk Wylde, and the shift in energy was immediate. Where Dark Chapel simmered, Zakk Sabbath exploded, diving headfirst into the iconic catalog of Black Sabbath with a mix of reverence and raw power, leveraging these beloved tunes for an amazing fan experience. It felt less like a typical opener and more like a celebration of the genre’s roots, with Zakk fully embracing the larger-than-life guitar hero persona that has defined his career and the first of many homages to lost metal legends. From clapping singalongs during Fairies Wear Boots to an “Ozzy” chant right before the set ended with War Pigs, the felt perfectly curated for fans at this point especially once the giant BLS banner dropped from the top of the rafters to cover the stage as the band members walk off, signalling what’s next on the menu.
With one final changeover, Black Label Society took the stage in front of a crowd that had already been primed through two distinct but connected lenses of Wylde’s musical identity: one contemporary and introspective, the other steeped in classic metal mythology. That progression made the headlining set feel like the culmination of everything that came before, tying together influence, legacy, and evolution into one cohesive night. It was all a thing of beauty honestly and with a venue filled past the brim, you could feel the energy in the room on your skin. With “JD” DeServio on bass and Jeff Fabb behind the kit who are legends in their own right especially doing double duty in the set before, what you have is a well-primed machine in mid-tour form.
BLS’ set was prefaced with a pre-recorded Whole Lotta Sabbath mashup. This remix by Wax Audio felt like a tongue-in-cheek signal that this was going to be a night built as much on Zakk Wylde’s larger-than-life personality and Sabbath worship as it is on the band’s own catalogue. Then once the track stopped and the banner dropped, the band dove straight into their newer material but not before treating the fans to Funeral Bell first. Name in Blood and Destroy & Conquer followed which created an especially heavy opening run, but the opener song in particular stood out because of how much it has been played live over the years especially in the first half of BLS sets. Funeral Bell from 2003’s The Blessed Hellride is a cut that longtime fans often single out as one of the band’s best heavier songs so hearing it so first immediately felt like a reward for the diehards in the room.
The progression of the setlist from there was interesting because it basically began by emphasizing Black Label Society’s current era before slowly peeling back through the catalogue. Name in Blood and Destroy & Conquer represented the newer material, while A Love Unreal that came next brought in a melodic shift from 2018’s Grimmest Hits. Though still an absolute headbanger, its a track that switches up the pace especially with a solid belter of a guitar solo as the audience continues this backwards time machine ride further into BLS’ catalogue.
From there, the set moved further backward now into the mid-2000s core of the catalogue. Heart of Darkness, In This River, Fire It Up, and Suicide Messiah all came from 2005’s Mafia, the album that remains arguably the most recognizable and an easily appreciated by fans. It’s one that has always loomed large in Black Label Society shows, and this setlist leaned heavily on it again. Fire It Up in particular really got the crowd going thanks to Zakk and Dario soloing simultaneously with their guitars behind their heads for what felt like 5 minutes straight. This must be what it takes to make it as a wicked bonus track the original Guitar Hero video game.
Within this stretch though came the first emotional pivot of the night with No More Tears. Because Zakk Wylde was such an integral part of Ozzy Osbourne’s classic lineup, his performance of that song carries a different weight than a typical cover. Fans on recent dates of the tour have reacted especially strongly to its addition since it’s not typically part of the BLS set. Either way, it was a clear shoutout to his lost friend. In This River was likely the most emotional moment of the evening with Zakk taking a seat behind the keys. Originally released on Mafia in 2005, the song has developed as his tribute to Dimebag Darrell but in this performance (and tour) also included Vinny Paul with their images honoured on banners that dropped to cover the amps on stage. By this point, this belter has become almost sacred within the Black Label Society live show and fans are happy to expect it every night. The placement after No More Tears gave the set a quieter and more reflective centre before the show roared back to life like a motorcycle engine.
After that reflective stretch, the set shifted gears into pure fan-service. The Blessed Hellride and Set You Free reached back to the early-2000s period, specifically BLS’ 2003 release of the same name as the former, which ended up being the most represented older album of the night. That progression was notable: instead of moving chronologically, the set bounced between eras, but it gradually leaned more and more into the classic songs as it approached the end. By the time Suicide Messiah arrived, the crowd likely knew the finale was coming. This absolute ripper of a track has long been one of the band’s biggest anthems and felt like a stellar launching point into the closing stretch especially with the help of a megaphone.
Ozzy’s Song provided one final emotional wrinkle late in the set that felt like Zakk’s true tribute to the late legend. The backdrop with a collage of Ozzy images made it easy for fans to be moved one last time. Rather than simply racing to the finish, BLS inserted another moment of emotion before the inevitable closer especially after working the main riff from Black Sabbath into the song’s ending jam.
To the satisfaction of a lot of fans, Stillborn capped off the show. Is there really another way for a Black Label Society show to end after all of the songs played up to this point? Another one released on The Blessed Hellride and originally featuring Ozzy himself, Stillborn has been played towards the end of their sets for years. It honestly captures so much of what Black Label Society does well: the giant riff, the belting vocals, the biker-metal swagger, and sometimes, it all just feels like an exhale you didn’t know you needed. If In This River was the emotional peak of then night, then Stillborn must be the triumphant one. A fitting ender even more so being another featured track in Guitar Hero and was a reward for defeating Zakk Wylde himself in a guitar duel. It was the kind of finisher that had this jam-packed theatre shouting the chorus back at the stage with fists in the air while smoke cannons blasted and beach balls bounced around. What an absolute candle-blow moment to cap off a sold-out celebration.
For any fans that are feeling left out from what felt like a metal experience of a lifetime, BLS has got you. They’ve just announced an “American Crusade” tour that will see this exact same lineup kick off from Albany, NY on August 25th that will wrap up in Bend, OR on October 2nd. This gives the bands a three month break before this tour ends in mid-May so it’s safe to say that these guys are ready to go to work.