Rising from the heart of downtown Atlanta just steps from Centennial Olympic Park, The Tabernacle stands as both a historic landmark and one of the city’s most immersive live music spaces. Hosting the latest stop on Black Label Society’s 2026 North American headlining tour, the venue was originally built more than a century ago as the Broughton Tabernacle Baptist Church. It was later transformed into a concert venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics, preserving its vaulted architecture and sense of grandeur. Despite its 2,600-person capacity and stacked balcony tiers, the room consistently delivers a surprisingly intimate feel, an important element when Zakk Wylde is performing.
What’s interesting about this tour is that every performing member of Black Label Society pulls double duty at each stop. Guitarist Dario Lorina fronts opener Dark Chapel while also supporting Wylde during BLS later in the evening. Additionally, Wylde’s Black Sabbath tribute act, Zakk Sabbath, is rounded out by fellow BLS members in bassist John “JD” DeServio and drummer Jeff Fabb. Call it a musical family affair.
Dark Chapel turned the room into something closer to a ritual than a concert, starting at 7:30 p.m., delivering a set that felt equal parts oppressive and hypnotic in the best possible way. From the first low-end rumble of “Afterglow” to the final wash of feedback in “We Are Remade,” their sound leaned hard into a brooding atmosphere. The music was accentuated by thick, reverb-soaked guitars colliding with cavernous drums and Lorina’s vocals, which shifted in tone between ghostly restraint and full-throated anguish.
The band’s pacing throughout their six-song set was deliberate, letting tension build in slow, crushing waves before cracking it open with bursts of controlled chaos. There was a cinematic quality to what Dark Chapel did live; their songs didn’t just play out, they unfolded, pulling the crowd deeper into their shadowy aesthetic until they lost any sense of time outside the set. Dark Chapel captivated the early audience, and it was great to see Lorina flourish musically on his own.
Dark Chapel
Dario Lorina – Guitars, lead vocals
Dylan Dyce – Guitars
Mike Gunn – Bass
Carlos Silva – Drums
Setlist:
1.) Afterglow
2.) Hollow Smile
3.) Signs of Life
4.) Hit of Your Love
5.) Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers cover)
6.) We Are Remade
Following a quick equipment turn, the stage was set for Zakk Sabbath, Zakk Wylde’s Black Sabbath tribute band. With the clock closing in on 8:30 p.m., the house lights briefly dropped over a screaming, capacity crowd as drummer Jeff Fabb made his way behind the kit. Moments later, the instantly recognizable, kilt-clad Wylde stormed out alongside bassist John “JD” DeServio, and the band launched into their set with “Children of the Grave,” a crushing opener pulled from Black Sabbath’s third studio album, Master of Reality (1971).
Much like the last time I caught Zakk Sabbath (December 2024), their set — trimmed this time to a tight six songs — served as a full-throttle sing-along celebration of Sabbath’s formative early-’70s output, with additional cuts drawn from Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), and Vol. 4 (1972). Still, it was the closing, anthem-sized punch of “War Pigs” that sent the Atlanta crowd into a frenzy, as Wylde (weaving through the packed floor without missing a note) whipped the audience into a fever pitch, setting the stage perfectly for what was to come with Black Label Society.
Zakk Sabbath
Zakk Wylde – Lead vocals, guitar
John “JD” DeServio – Bass
Jeff Fabb – Drums
Setlist:
1.) Children of the Grave (Black Sabbath cover)
2.) Snowblind (Black Sabbath cover)
3.) Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath cover)
4.) Bassically (Black Sabbath cover)
5.) N.I.B. (Black Sabbath cover)
6.) War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
At the crack of 9:40 p.m., Black Label Society rolled out like a thunderhead ready to burst, delivering a set that felt equal parts biker rally sermon and heavy metal masterclass. They wasted no time setting the tone, opening with the ominous toll of “Funeral Bell,” a slow-building crusher off The Blessed Hellride (2023) that immediately locked the crowd into the band’s hypnotic heavy metal groove. Wylde slung his signature guitar low and unleashed wave after wave of thick, sludgy riffing, rattling the room with his unmistakable low-end punch. BLS tore through a career-spanning setlist with precision and grit, effortlessly shifting between the punishing stomp of “Fire It Up” and the soulful, almost hymnal sway of “In This River,” which had the audience swaying and singing along in a near-reverent hush.
The band’s latest release as of just two weeks ago (March 27, 2026), Engines of Demolition, made its presence felt in a more focused way, with “Ozzy’s Song” emerging as an emotional centerpiece towards the tail end of the night. Stripped of some of the band’s usual bravado, the track carried a weighty sense of tribute and reflection for the late Ozzy Osbourne, with Wylde leaning into its melody with a heartfelt sincerity that resonated deeply throughout the room. It was a reminder that beneath the crushing riffs and biker bravado lies a band capable of genuine vulnerability.
Throughout the night, Wylde — equal parts shredder and showman — stretched solos into sprawling, emotional journeys, often playing behind his head without missing a note. Backed by a rhythm section featuring Lorina, DeServio, and Fabb that hit like a sledgehammer, Black Label Society didn’t just perform — they dominated. Thursday night closed with the explosive punch of “Stillborn,” sending the sold-out crowd into one last energetic release as the final chords rang out, leaving The Tabernacle feeling less like a concert hall and more like a congregation fully baptized in distortion, volume, and the enduring brotherhood that defines the band’s live experience.
Black Label Society motors on through mid-May, with the tour wrapping up on Thursday, May 14, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Ryman Auditorium.
Black Label Society
John “JD” DeServio – Bass
Jeff Fabb – Drums
Dario Lorina – Rhythm guitar
Zakk Wylde – Vocals, guitar, piano
Setlist:
1.) Funeral Bell
2.) Name in Blood
3.) Destroy & Conquer
4.) A Love Unreal
5.) Heart of Darkness
6.) No More Tears (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
7.) In This River
8.) The Blessed Hellride
9.) Set You Free
10.) Fire It Up
11.) Suicide Messiah
12.) Ozzy’s Song
13.) Stillborn
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.