Savatage reunion

First, allow me to say, HOLYCRAPHOLYCRAPHOLYCRAPHOLYCRAP!!!! And...HOLYCRAP! Yeah, that's exciting news!

corplhicks wrote:

I know I could go look up some youtube videos, but for the sake of conversation how is Jon's voice these days?

I saw him in Pittsburgh on his Storyteller tour. If you're expecting the high notes on "When the Crowds are Gone," he can still hit them, but not with much sustain to speak of, so it's definitely not the 80s. As for his "Mountain King" vocals, he's got the growl, he can still project, and he's still got great presence. Sorry I wouldn't be able to see this one. I would be happy to go if it were local.

Wacken Festival's Facebook page sez the 2015 fest is already sold out... that was quick.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Wacken Festival's Facebook page sez the 2015 fest is already sold out... that was quick.

Happens every year - I have a friend that has been to 7 Wackens.... if you are at Wacken you get first shot at tickets for the next year.... and it's pretty obvious that they buy em all up..... It was sold out before TSO/Savatage was even announced!

thejokeriv wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Wacken Festival's Facebook page sez the 2015 fest is already sold out... that was quick.

Happens every year - I have a friend that has been to 7 Wackens.... if you are at Wacken you get first shot at tickets for the next year.... and it's pretty obvious that they buy em all up..... It was sold out before TSO/Savatage was even announced!

They don't go on sale until after the bands are announced. I got 3 tickets last night for my brother/dad and Savatage was announced on Saturday morning.

In any case, I loved Wacken when I went in 2012 and this year already has a better lineup than that year did!

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I'm sure Jeff Plate will drum...he's been the TSO drummer every time I've seen them. I bet they do only Oliva era material and will have only Jon on vocals...hour long "hits" set, tops.

Right. That's why without Criss this reunion doesn't mean much to me. JOP was already playing quite a few SAVATAGE songs and recorded songs that sounded like they could've already come from SAVATAGE.

They could've tried to at least get the original lineup (of course sans Chris) back.

This won't even have Pitrelli on guitar I bet. I mean ... who is on guitar here? Who is actually "reuniting"? People who already play together in TSO and JOP? Seems like more of a "reshuffling" than a "reunion".

Temple of Blood wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I'm sure Jeff Plate will drum...he's been the TSO drummer every time I've seen them. I bet they do only Oliva era material and will have only Jon on vocals...hour long "hits" set, tops.

Right.  That's why without Criss this reunion doesn't mean much to me.  JOP was already playing quite a few SAVATAGE songs and recorded songs that sounded like they could've already come from SAVATAGE.

They could've tried to at least get the original lineup (of course sans Chris) back.  

This won't even have Pitrelli on guitar I bet.  I mean ... who is on guitar here?  Who is actually "reuniting"?  People who already play together in TSO and JOP?  Seems like more of a "reshuffling" than a "reunion".

My understanding is that MUCH of the JOP stuff was put together from old Criss Oliva demos Jon had in his possession....so it makes sense it sounds like Savatage.

My guess is the line up will be:

Jon Oliva (original), Chris Caffery (member since Gutter Ballet, started touring w/ HotMK tour), Johnny Lee Middleton (member since Fight For The Rock) & Jeff Plate (member since Handful Of Rain).

mc666 wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

mc666 wrote:

This band is only cool here.

Never understood the sonic boner they produce in folks either, but if it makes their fans happy and puts a few coins in their pocket, more power to 'em.

Don't get me wrong. I've always liked Savatage within varying degrees. They just seem to be so much greater here than anywhere else. They're not that awesome.

Savatage is pretty much a "cult" band here ... most american bands leaning to a more traditional / melodic / epic Heavy and Power Metal sometimes have greater popularity here (and in Japan and Europe) than in U.S. ... I don´t know what´s the reason , but Traditional Heavy and Power Metal where never that huge in U.S.A.

Not all places in Brasil are like this tho. I see that the scene from "Minas Gerais" is much darker and brutal than here (São Paulo) ... When I was living in "Minas Gerais" it was HARD to find anyone who was really into American / European Power Metal and stuff ...

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

My guess is the line up will be:

Jon Oliva (original), Chris Caffery (member since Gutter Ballet, started touring w/ HotMK tour), Johnny Lee Middleton (member since Fight For The Rock) & Jeff Plate (member since Handful Of Rain).

That feels like a bit of an in-between line up to me. It's not quite an early Savatage reunion because Steve Wacholz isn't there, and it's missing Zachary Stevens and Al Pitrelli from the later incarnation.

But it was the final official Savatage line up to record an album as Pitrelli was only credited as a guest on Poets and Madmen.

Citanul wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

My guess is the line up will be:

Jon Oliva (original), Chris Caffery (member since Gutter Ballet, started touring w/ HotMK tour), Johnny Lee Middleton (member since Fight For The Rock) & Jeff Plate (member since Handful Of Rain).

That feels like a bit of an in-between line up to me.  It's not quite an early Savatage reunion because Steve Wacholz isn't there, and it's missing Zachary Stevens and Al Pitrelli from the later incarnation.

But it was the final official Savatage line up to record an album as Pitrelli was only credited as a guest on Poets and Madmen.

They don't need Zakk Stevens as they'll probably only do pre-'Edge Of Thorns' material anyway. There are enough fan-favorites prior to Zakk joining the band that they won't need to venture past 'Streets'. It's not going to be more than 60 minutes, MAYBE 70 minutes...it's a festival setting, not "their" show. They could easily put together an hour of non-Zakk songs. They MAY choose to use a second guitarist, which could be either Pitrelli or Skolnick (both ex-Savatage, both in TSO).

Definitely curious to see how this one pans out.

For those curious about Jon's voice, here are some vids from the show I saw at the end of last year:

If I Go Away:




Fly Away:




Alone You Breathe:




Child in Time (Deep Purple Cover) / When the Crowds are Gone

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

They don't need Zakk Stevens as they'll probably only do pre-'Edge Of Thorns' material anyway. There are enough fan-favorites prior to Zakk joining the band that they won't need to venture past 'Streets'. It's not going to be more than 60 minutes, MAYBE 70 minutes...it's a festival setting, not "their" show. They could easily put together an hour of non-Zakk songs. They MAY choose to use a second guitarist, which could be either Pitrelli or Skolnick (both ex-Savatage, both in TSO).

I totally get that, and wouldn't have a problem if they only did pre-Edge of Thorns stuff.  I was really just commenting that your suspected line up isn't quite a reunion of either of the two main line ups.

But it makes complete sense as to why they might go with that combination of member, and I wouldn't try claiming that it shouldn't be called Savatage because it doesn't have Stevens, Pitrelli or Wacholz.  As far as I'm concerned the three non-negotiables for Savatage are Jon Oliva (for obvious reasons), Johnny Lee Middleton (the second-longest serving member) and Chris Caffery (as he's the natural substitute for Criss Oliva and was a legitimate part of the band in his own right).  As long as those three are present, they're entitled to call themselves Savatage, and it's not as important who completes the line up.

I am much more interested in the next JOP Album. Jon said in an interview that it will be the heaviest record he ever did.

As for Savatage only being popular here, doesn't affect my feelings about them. I LOVE Savatage. To me it's some of the best music ever written and Criss was one of the best metal guitarist ever. Even if I was the only fan left in the world, my opinion would not change one iota. Now, it is of course proper to say they aren't that big elsewhere. Savatage will never be in any major top metal band list. More people have heard of TSO than Savatage and even Jon himself has lamented that fact. However, I am glad there are at least some others who still appreciate this band, even though I think more people should have knowledge of this band.

I can't speak for anyone else but my love for them, probably has to do with seeing a few times since they are local boys.

Good question on who is in the line up, I doubt this will lead to full scale reunion or tour, but it would be nice if they play a warm show in their hometown.

Savatage is pretty well known and respected here in Brasil (hopefully South America) and Japan to say the least. Even some people I know who are only into "90´s Euro Power Metal" are huge Savatave fans ... Metal Magazines here always had them interviewed in many editions / issues ... I think they are a great band , but I don´t like some of the overtly classicaly influenced material ...

The line-up will be Chris Caffery, Jeff Plate, Al Pitrelli, Johnny Lee Middleton, Jon Oliva and Zak Stevens. Most of whom are already involved with TSO.
It's a reunion when a band has been apart for 12 years....

kmorg wrote:

The line-up will be Chris Caffery, Jeff Plate, Al Pitrelli, Johnny Lee Middleton, Jon Oliva and Zak Stevens. Most of whom are already involved with TSO.
It's a reunion when a band has been apart for 12 years....

Has Zak Stevens been confirmed? I can't find anywhere saying he's doing it, but I really hope so. I'm really wanting to hear some songs from Handful of Rain.

I think it is a better reunion with Zak. Aside from Kildrums, this is a good reunion lineup.

The line-up has not been officially announced yet, but someone who knows Johnny Lee Middleton claimed he got it straight from the horses mouth.

Spiner202 wrote:

kmorg wrote:

The line-up will be Chris Caffery, Jeff Plate, Al Pitrelli, Johnny Lee Middleton, Jon Oliva and Zak Stevens. Most of whom are already involved with TSO.
It's a reunion when a band has been apart for 12 years....

Has Zak Stevens been confirmed? I can't find anywhere saying he's doing it, but I really hope so. I'm really wanting to hear some songs from Handful of Rain.

What would be really cool would be to have that line up and then bring in Alex Skolnick as a guest for the Handful of Rain songs. If he's already there as part of TSO then it would be really easy to do.

And then they need to make damn sure that this gets a DVD release...

Citanul wrote:

Spiner202 wrote:

kmorg wrote:

The line-up will be Chris Caffery, Jeff Plate, Al Pitrelli, Johnny Lee Middleton, Jon Oliva and Zak Stevens. Most of whom are already involved with TSO.
It's a reunion when a band has been apart for 12 years....

Has Zak Stevens been confirmed? I can't find anywhere saying he's doing it, but I really hope so. I'm really wanting to hear some songs from Handful of Rain.

What would be really cool would be to have that line up and then bring in Alex Skolnick as a guest for the Handful of Rain songs.  If he's already there as part of TSO then it would be really easy to do.

And then they need to make damn sure that this gets a DVD release...

I wouldn't hold out for that. When I saw TSO on the Beethoven tour, they said they were filming it and would release a DVD. That was in 2010, still no DVD.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/jon-olivas-pain-performs-entire-streets-a-rock-opera-at-progpower-usa-video/

Not the reunion, but Jon played Streets in its entirety at ProgPower and I'm really sorry I wasn't able to be there. He'd apparently injured his ribs and was having trouble with his breathing, but the man sounds AMAZING here. Horns up!

In under two months, TSO killed it.

o The 2014 Winter Tour grossed more than $51 million in just 52 days.
o Total tour attendance was nearly 1,000,000 fans.
o The tour grossed nearly $1 million per day from 11/13/14 to 1/4/15.
o The tour donated more than $1,000,000 to local and national charities.
o TSO has now played to well over 12 million fans.

And people wonder why Savatage is on hold or no more.

A Savatage tour would be lucky to play in front of 500 people a night in clubs (and probably much less than that).

S.D. wrote:

A Savatage tour would be lucky to play in front of 500 people a night in clubs (and probably much less than that).

Sad, right? Especially considering all those people that LOVE Trans-Siberian Orchestra are listening to, basically, the same band.