Billy Talent II 20th Anniversary Show in Toronto

What ended up being a show for the ages, got off to somewhat of an inauspicious start. After thunderstorms and even a brief tornado warning (on the heels of several days of hazardous air quality from ongoing wildfires) threatened to impede Saturday's outdoor show at Toronto's RBC Amphitheatre, the weather cleared and the show proceeded as planned.

With the weather crisis averted, new problems cropped up essentially right away. The bill's first band, Hollerado (out of Ottawa, Ontario) faced immediate sound issues right from their first notes. The music sounded quiet and muddy, with completely indecipherable vocals to kick off the show. Thankfully, it didn't take long for this issue to resolve itself into typical concert volume levels, seemingly from someone between the stage and front of house fully seating a cable which had perhaps not been clicked in all the way. Some of the vocals were still a bit difficult to make out, but the band had some seriously rocking, funky grooves, and their infectious energy ignited the crowd to open the show.

Led by Menno Versteeg on lead vocals and guitar, Hollerado were clearly having fun on stage, helping joyous sentiments spread throughout the crowd. Versteeg even fashioned the instrument cable to which his microphone was tethered, into a makeshift skipping rope of sorts, jumping "cable" on stage to the shared delight of the band and crowd. Missing drummer Jake Boyd's guitar-playing brother, Nixon (who was welcoming his child into the world -- a sufficiently adequate excuse, we can surely all agree) did not seem to slow the band down, with Nixon's fill-in replacement (friend of the band, Benji) performing admirably, and Dean Baxter holding his own on bass guitar as well. Hollerado even successfully launched what Versteeg claimed was a new song which had supposedly just been written that morning. This did seem like a dubious claim, however, as the (seemingly well-formed and rehearsed) song culminated in a sing-along from the crowd as though the song was already a well known staple in their stable of songs.

For some music fans in the audience, however, the highlight of Hollerado's opening set was the inclusion of two unnamed, unannounced female musicians on strings. The cellist was hard to identify from this writer's vantage point, but the fiddle player was unmistakable, even buried down lower in the mix than she typically is in most of her performances. Behold, Kendel Carson! Possibly from Alberta, possibly from outer space (speculation abounds), Carson's searing, sizzling fiddle tones could have been easily missed in the mix as the band failed to introduce her by name, but for those who know where to look and where to listen, there is no mistaking her any time she takes the stage.

Next up, was Death From Above 1979, or DFA, to shorten what would otherwise be quite a mouthful. This hometown duo is a unique two-piece outfit with Sebastien Grainger on drums and vocals, and Jesse F. Keeler on electric bass. In the absence of any actual guitars, Keeler's bass guitar and keyboard synth stood in for some more treble-like frequencies, with the use of pedals, note choices high up the fretboard, and some innovative techniques for harmonics and other textures.

The pair played with a singular intensity, managing to create quite a dark and heavy soundscape for just two musicians. This set seemed to set the pit ablaze with bouncing bodies, with many people surfing the crowd's wave of hands to the safety of security beyond the barricade, only to be shuffled off to the side and shuttled back into the crowd again in a sort of rock n' roll remix of catch and release fishing. With perhaps less melody than Hollerado, but certainly a heavier, more intense energy, DFA succeeded in priming the crowd for the main attraction.

Following a climactic countdown from 2026 to 2006, rewinding to the release of Billy Talent II, the headliners took the stage to thunderous applause from the sold out crowd of some 16, 000 rock fans. Touring in celebration of Billy Talent's seminal sophomore album (more fervent fans may recall the band formerly operating as Pezz before their Billy Talent days), they tore through the album note for note, cut for cut, on this final tour stop homecoming.

Amazingly, the songs sounded impeccably similar to how they were recorded 20 years ago, and the set sounded like listening to the actual record, with the intensity turned to 11 in this live, electric atmosphere. Each song unfolded just how we've been hearing them for the last 20 years, complete with vocalist Ben Kowalewicz's strangely comforting primal screams, plus bonus efforts from the enthused crowd. The only interruptions to the action came from Ben's heartfelt expressions of gratitude for all the support since 1993 when they were playing basement gigs in Mississauga, along with his impassioned plea to continue Billy Talent's decades long history of concert community with fans helping each other up.

Billy Talent burned down the set with Burn the Evidence, and any remaining evidence was indeed still smoldering when the band returned with Rusted from the Rain for what ended up amounting to an extended encore of hits, after a brief exit from the stage. Ian D'Sa, tasked with working double duty all night on near-constant backing vocals and finger-stretching guitar parts on his signature Fender Stratocaster, returned with a different Strat emblazoned with a maple leaf. (Ben played the same air guitar throughout the performance.) Jonathan Gallant also provided his classic dose of backing vocals, along with a great performance on bass guitar, and an exclamation at one point that he had just seen his son crowd-surfing. Original drummer Aaron Solowoniuk, sidelined with health complications due to his brave struggle with MS, was able to make a well-received appearance for the hometown crowd, and Alejandro Serritiello filled his role behind the drum kit to great effect.

Longtime fans were perhaps left wanting a bit more from Billy Talent's self-titled predecessor to Billy Talent II, but it's hard to complain when presented with both River Below and Try Honesty. I don't know who this Billy guy is, but he had the whole crowd on their feet throughout, dancing, singing along, headbanging and otherwise rocking out; Billy's got some Talent! Five full stars.

Show review by contributing writer: Brendan Fardy

📃Setlist

• Devil in a Midnight Mass

• Red Flag

• This Suffering

• Worker Bees

• Pins and Needles

• Fallen Leaves

• Where Is the Line?

• Covered in Cowardice

• Surrender

• The Navy Song

• Perfect World

• Sympathy

• Burn the Evidence

  Encore:

• Rusted From the Rain

• River Below

• Surprise Surprise

• Afraid of Heights

• Try Honesty

• Reckless Paradise

• Devil on My Shoulder

• Viking Death March

🎸 Billy Talent
🌍 Billy Talent II - 20th Anniversary Tour
📅 July 18, 2026
📍 RBC Amphitheatre - Toronto ON

Billy Talent are:

🎤 Benjamin Kowalewicz - Singer
🎸 Ian D'Sa - Guitar
🎸 Jonathan Gallant - Bass
🥁 Aaron Solowoniuk - Drums
🥁 Ale Serritiello - Drums (currently)