“Good evening, we’re Billy Talent from Toronto, Ontario, Canada,” frontman Ben Kowalewicz told the Louder Than Life crowd in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Canadian rockers closed out the Revolver Stage on the final day of the festival on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
In typical Canadian fashion, Kowalewicz issued an apology early in their set.
“This is our first show in the U.S. in like eight years, so we just want to say first of all, sorry, second of all thank-you so much for sticking around,” he said.
“I know it has been a long weekend and we got Turnstile right fuckin’ there, so thank-you very much for sticking around, we appreciate it.”
The band still managed to pack in a thick and energetic crowd in front of the Revolver Stage, despite, as Kowalewicz mentioned, the first Sunday headliners, Turnstile, playing simuletaneously across the Highland Festival Grounds on the Space Zebra Stage.
“Let’s make this a re-introduction of sorts, okay?” Kowalewicz added.
“We’ll promise you that we’ll come back and see you sooner than later.”
The band tore through an 11-song set, which spanned through their entire catalog:
1. Devil in a Midnight Mass
2. This Suffering
3. I Beg to Differ (This Will Get Better)
4. Afraid of Heights
5. Rusted From the Rain
6. Try Honesty
7. Surprise Surprise
8. Fallen Leaves
9. Devil on My Shoulder
10. Viking Death March
11. Red Flag
Here are some photos of their performance by Nathan Zucker:
Billy Talent’s most recent studio album Crisis of Faith debuted at #1 in Germany and had three singles hit the #1 spot at Canadian Rock Radio which combined to spend a total of 21 weeks atop the Canadian Rock radio chart.
Crisis of Faith debuted at #8 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart, joining just four other rock artists who have reached the Top 10 within the past 12 months (Iron Maiden, The Tragically Hip, Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters).
Billy Talent is Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D’Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk.
Follow the band on their official website https://billytalent.com/.