Savatage

Somehow, they've never just gotten a thread of their own, so I figured I'd start one.

Anyway, I'm spinning Handful of Rain and it occurs to me that most of the Zak songs had to exist in some form sung by Jon since he wrote everything with Paul O'Neill first. Not sure about everyone else here, but I'd love to hear those demos. I suspect the closest we'll get are Jon's acoustic versions from the last wave of reissues, but it'd still be cool.

Also along these lines, there are some songs which I'm just about sure Zak was the better fit, vocally, for; but there are just as many I don't think Zak pulls off and which I wish we had proper Jon-sung versions.

I guess I'm just getting down to wishing they'd carried through on the original plan (as told by Jon) which was for the band to have two lead vocalists after Jon took his break while they toured Edge of Thorns. That would have been a powerful damn band. Wake of Magellan is really the closest we get to that and I don't think it's coincidence that it's the strongest Zak-era album.

By shear coincidence, last night Savatage and TSO played at Wacken last night. Savatage played a 40 minute set on Stage 1, then TSO played a 40 minute set on Stage 2. Then both bands played side-by-side for the finale. Now that's METAL!!

There is plenty of crappy cell phone footage of it here if you want...
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/savatage-reunites-for-wacken-open-air-festival-performance-video-available/

Holy friggin' balls~! I really hope they recorded that show.

So, I suppose Jon wasn't just blowing smoke when he said a few years ago that a Savatage reunion would have to be at the level of TSO. Only at Wacken!

And that's a hell of a finale that they played for an hour together. That sound guy must have soiled his pants at least once.

Now that would have been awesome to see in person. Amazing !

If this is the last word on Savatage, I do hope there's a live album/video for it, but this is the right way to put the name to bed.

If Jon is singing I'm interested. That statement holds true of my opinion regarding the studio albums as well.

He's doing a LOT of singing here. Even in the TSO unison set, he's used pretty well. Cool to hear him duet with the TSO guy on Believe. Having that touch makes it easier for me to accept someone else singing on it.

And, I'll be honest, it's just damn cool to see Jon playing to a big damn crowd again. Not that I minded the intimacy of a theater gig when I saw him, but it just seems like he BELONGS there.

That really is crappy cell phone footage but how awesome is that? I hope it's not the end.

Dead Winter Dead and Wake of Magellan are both great, partially because of the way they used two different lead vocalists almost equally.

This year's Wacken was sold out in seconds as Savatage were confirmed last year. I hope they will do a regular tour too (without the orchestra). Would love to see 'em playing some songs off first 2 albums and Dungeons EP, as they started with stuff from Mountain King on WOA.

I love both eras of the band. Hard to compare the two, though, as not only are they different vocally, but musically as well.

Would have been great to be at Wacken this year, though. Bands simply don't do shows like that anymore. It's why I think the TSO shows are so badass.

I really, really hope they release this as a DVD/CD combo for those of us stateside who can't get to Wacken. Actually, even if I were there I think I'd want a DVD/CD combo release!

QuothTheRaven wrote:

I really, really hope they release this as a DVD/CD combo for those of us stateside who can't get to Wacken. Actually, even if I were there I think I'd want a DVD/CD combo release!

That would be awesome!! Hopefully it happens!

Would love to have been there. I really hope they release that footage properly.

Really hoping for a Blu Ray of this gig!!!!!! Or at least a boot of pro-shot footage!

The two bands performing together is something that seems tailor-made for a DVD release, as you could conceivably have the option of watching either of the two on their own, or an edit that switches between the two. So I have a strong suspicion that we will see a proper release of this.

thejokeriv wrote:

Really hoping for a Blu Ray of this gig!!!!!! Or at least a boot of pro-shot footage!

What he said.

Fat Freddy wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Really hoping for a Blu Ray of this gig!!!!!! Or at least a boot of pro-shot footage!

What he said.

I concur! One of my biggest regrets is that I never got to see Savatage (TSO doesn't count) as they are my second favorite band and still have a presence in my playlists and at work singing (since I know so many of their songs by heart).

I watch many artists on Deviantart who are from all over Europe and I'm always telling them how jealous I am of their countries having the best music festivals.

Citanul wrote:

The two bands performing together is something that seems tailor-made for a DVD release, as you could conceivably have the option of watching either of the two on their own, or an edit that switches between the two.  So I have a strong suspicion that we will see a proper release of this.

Yea, I think I'd be more surprised if they didn't film this for a future release. Seems like a once-in-a-lifetime, golden opportunity. The band or management really dropped the ball on this one if it isn't released professionally at some point.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Citanul wrote:

The two bands performing together is something that seems tailor-made for a DVD release, as you could conceivably have the option of watching either of the two on their own, or an edit that switches between the two.  So I have a strong suspicion that we will see a proper release of this.

Yea, I think I'd be more surprised if they didn't film this for a future release. Seems like a once-in-a-lifetime, golden opportunity. The band or management really dropped the ball on this one if it isn't released professionally at some point.

If they did film it, it doesn't mean we'll see a release. I hope I'm wrong, but they DID film the final performance of the TSO Beethoven's Last Night tour (I was there) and five years later... nothing.

Not the full set, but this is still pretty awesome.

http://concert.arte.tv/de/savatage-wacken-2015

I was hesitant in starting a new thread, since maybe it's old news to some, but I just discovered this myself today after searching for some Savatage-related interviews:

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/jon-oliva-recovering-from-stroke/

Jon Oliva had a stroke in April.

Pain has proven that Jon has so much music left in him that I hope he gets to release more. Nevermind touring, just lay it all down in the studio.

That Savatage show at Wacken last year may have been historic, but I wouldn't know since I wasn't there. I was hoping they'd release it on DVD/Blu-Ray together with a bunch of interviews, story, documentary, history, music video catalogue etc. But I still haven't heard anything about that either, so maybe I'll just settle for crappy Youtube/Dailymotion bootlegs of the show...

Man that sucks. This is the first I've heard of it.

Why did Jon ever step down as the vocalist for Savatage?

candlemass wrote:

Why did Jon ever step down as the vocalist for Savatage?

I think he was trying to do Doctor butcher stuff with Chris Caffery or something.