Godsmack and Staind at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto, ON, Canada

Godsmack brought their “Best of Times World Tour” to the Budweiser Stage for their first performance in Toronto in well-over a decade along Staind. So it was no surprise that the amphitheater was packed with revelers as Mix Master Mike kicked things off with a masterful DJ set featuring his signature scratch moves in an appropriately Beasty Boy-heavy set.

Next up, Staind took the stage back by massive LED screens that were maybe a little hard to fully appreciate in the setting sun as the band paid tribute to its legendary influence on the 90’s. Fast-forward 25 odd years and the tunes still sound great although Tuesday night’s performance may have lacked the passion of yore as Aaron Lewis seemed to prefer to keep his back turned to the crowd when he wasn’t singing. That said, “Outside,” “It’s Been Awhile,” and set closer “Mudshovel” all get the crowd on its feed and rocking along.

By the time 9 pm came around it was pretty clear that this crowd was predominantly here for Godsmack. Frankly, frontman Sully Erna looked downright gobsmacked by the reaction, enjoying himself immensely whether it be rocking the shit out of “1000hp” as flames spewed into the air or giving the crowd an extended introduction to “Something Different.” Let’s just say that the evening vibe generally took a turn for the better.

The well-balanced setlist hit the new material off of 2023’s Lighting Up the Sky without overdoing it or skipping the crowd favorites although if anyone was going to have a beef, it would likely be because of the relative underweighting from their breakthrough debut. All-in-all, a good Tuesday night for rock and roll … hopefully it’s not so long before they return to Toronto!

Setlist