SAVATAGE performed live for the first time in 10 years earlier today (Saturday, April 19) at the Monsters Of Rock festival at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil. The event also featured SCORPIONS, JUDAS PRIEST, EUROPE, OPETH, QUEENSRŸCHE and STRATOVARIUS.
SAVATAGE‘s lineup for the Monsters Of Rock festival and the upcoming shows this spring and summer consists of Johnny Lee Middleton on bass, Chris Caffery on guitar, Al Pitrelli on guitar, Jeff Plate on drums and Zak Stevens on lead vocals.
One key member is missing from SAVATAGE‘s reunited lineup: Jon Oliva, the band’s founding vocalist and keyboardist. In 2023, Oliva suffered a T7 vertebra fracture in three places, a severe injury that has left him relying on a wheelchair. Additionally, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Ménière’s disease, conditions that have further complicated his health.
SAVATAGE‘s setlist for the Monsters Of Rock festival was as follows:
01. The Ocean (performed for first time since 1998)
02. Welcome (performed for first time since 1998)
03. Jesus Saves
04. The Wake Of Magellan (performed for first time since 2002)
05. Dead Winter Dead
06. Handful Of Rain (performed for first time since 2002)
07. Chance
08. Gutter Ballet
09. Edge Of Thorns
10. Believe (sung and played by Jon Oliva on piano, video on screen; band came in after first chorus)
11. Sirens (performed for first time since 2003)
12. Hall Of The Mountain King
In an interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, Oliva repeatedly emphasized that his injuries prevent him from taking part in the tour, explaining how his condition has affected even basic activities, let alone performing. “I can’t even sing right now because of the pain,” he admitted. “I can’t stand for too long, and I need time for my vertebra to heal naturally.” When asked about surgery as a possible solution, Oliva explained that he had considered it but ultimately decided against it after seeking advice from medical professionals and acquaintances. “They wanted to put metal in my body,” he said. “But people I spoke to told me not to do it, that I would regret it. So, I chose to let it heal naturally.”
This past January, Caffery and Plate spoke to The Metal Voice about SAVATAGE‘s 2025 live shows. Regarding how the SAVATAGE “reunion” came together, Plate said: “Well, I think the catalyst has just been the fanbase. The fanbase never gave up on us. They’ve been beating the drum for this reunion for years.
“The band never broke up,” the drummer clarified. “We haven’t done a proper tour in over 20 years, but we never officially broke up. Obviously, we all work together in TSO [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA]. We’ve played a lot of this SAVATAGE music in the TSO shows. Throughout the years, we’ve done at least one SAVATAGE song per tour, I believe — at least one. So the music has been out there. And the fanbase has been clamoring for this for the longest time. And, man, I’ve gotta hand it to them.
“Jon Oliva, several years ago… Jon is always writing music, and the plan was to do some recording — he’s got a bunch of new ideas — do some recording and get out there and let’s do this again. Jon has obviously run into a number of health problems, which are serious, and I’m sure everybody’s read about them. But in Jon‘s wisdom, he’s, like, ‘You know what?’ The ball kind of started rolling again. He’s not going to stop it this time. Jon‘s gonna be involved in everything that we’re doing from here forward. He can’t go out and do these tours right now, and he’s gonna work himself back into it. We’ve got our fingers crossed. But I tell you, man, the music in general, the fanbase, there’s just a strength behind all that that’s really kept the name alive, kept the interest alive.
“We’re all here,” Plate continued. “We’re all playing probably as well or better than we’ve ever played. It’s not like we’ve been sitting around for 20 years doing nothing and decided to reunite. Chris and I, Johnny and Al, we’ve been doing these TSO tours every year, plus a number of things in the off season. So there’s a lot of factors to this. But the excitement of seeing the reality of it, seeing the confirmed shows, seeing the posters…
“Chris and I have been basically joined at the hip since 1995,” Jeff added. “We’ve done a lot of stuff together. We talk about this all the time, and it really is exciting just to be able to get back out there and do this and play this music.”
Chris chimed in: “The plan was, after we did Wacken [Open Air festival in 2015], to start playing. But [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA founder] Paul [O’Neill] passed, and then we had to get over that. Then COVID came. And then Jon wanted to get started, then his injuries came. Like Johnny Lee had said when I was just speaking with him, 10 years went by like that. And we need to do this now. It’s, like, if you blink your eyes, 10 more years will go by. And I don’t wanna get emotional on things, but every other day, somebody in my life passes, it seems nowadays, as you get older. So we wanna take the advantage now of getting us together and celebrating what Jon and Paul and Criss [Oliva, late SAVATAGE guitarist] and all of us have done with SAVATAGE‘s music and give the fans that had a chance to see it a chance to see us again and the ones that never saw us a chance to see it.”
Jeff continued: “And I’ll tell you something. Chris mentioned losing Paul, and that obviously threw a huge wrench into everything. But in the infinite wisdom of Jon and Paul, they never dissolved the band. We’ve had this discussion several times. ‘Well, what is SAVATAGE? Are we still a thing?’ Paul refused to ever say that we were done. ‘We’re still a band,’ yada, yada. So here we are all these years later. It may have been frustrating for a lot of people that we haven’t played, but we never broke up. So now we’re back. And I think this is gonna be really interesting and it’s gonna be awesome.”
Chris said: “I used to tell the fans, ‘My crystal ball isn’t working. When it happens, I will be there.’ And I wanted it probably as much [as], if not 10 times more than, the fans, because it was such an important part of my everyday life. The fans are fans of a band, and SAVATAGE was a lot of my life for decades. And then TSO came along, but that piece of SAVATAGE not being there… I’m the one who’s not married and I don’t have kids, so it’s, like, that part of my life being gone was a big part of me. So it means a lot for me to be back in that family and that world. It really does.”
Zak joined SAVATAGE in 1992 as the replacement for Jon Oliva. Zak sang on four albums with the band — “Edge Of Thorns” (1993),“Handful Of Rain” (1994),“Dead Winter Dead” (1995) and “The Wake Of Magellan” (1997) — before departing in 2000, allowing Jon to return. Both Jon and Zak took part in SAVATAGE‘s 2015 performance at Wacken Open Air, which marked the band’s first, and only so far, appearance on stage since they went on hiatus back in 2002.
SAVATAGE‘s last album release, “Poets And Madmen”, in 2001 was highlighted by Jon‘s return as lead vocalist, replacing Zak, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of guitarist Al Pitrelli, who accepted an offer to join MEGADETH in 2000. Pitrelli did record solos for some songs prior to his departure. Another very limited U.S. tour followed, supported by FATES WARNING in the early shows, and then NEVERMORE for the remainder. Around this time, Jon chose Zak‘s replacement in the form of Damond Jiniya (DIET OF WORMS). Damond performed Zak‘s parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.
In September 2021, Jon Oliva was arrested on the west central coast of Florida for driving under the influence as well as possession of a controlled substance. Police charged Oliva with possession of cocaine, which is a felony, and DUI, which is a misdemeanor. Oliva was reportedly arrested again in July 2023 on another cocaine possession charge.
Back in 2016, Jon announced on social media that he suffered a stroke in April of that year. At the time, he said: “It was not as serious as it could have been, but it did leave me with some physical recovery challenges often associated with strokes.”
Despite his health issues, Jon said that he didn’t regret the way he had lived his life. He wrote: “I lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle since I was 18. It’s all I knew and I enjoyed the ride very much. But there comes a time in everyone’s life where you have to step back and make some life-changing decisions… which I have.”
Shortly after SAVATAGE‘s reunion performance at the 2015 Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, Oliva claimed that he felt better than he had in 20 years because he had “stopped drinking and eating” in preparation for the concert. He explained: “It’s my voice that’s freaking me out, because, even when I was in my late 20s, early 30s, doing songs like ’24 Hours Ago’ were always really hard to do. And, of course, I didn’t realize that it was all the drugs and alcohol I was doing. But, after doing that, getting my act together and stuff, singing ’24 Hours Ago’, it’s actually easy now. [Laughs]”
In addition to his work with SAVATAGE, Oliva is well known for co-creating the classical music-meets-prog rock and pyro act TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA alongside the project’s founder Paul O’Neill. Oliva has reportedly remained involved in TSO‘s activities even after O’Neill‘s April 2017 death of an accidental drug overdose.
Jon‘s brother Criss, who was one of the founding members of SAVATAGE, was killed in October 1993 by a drunk driver when he and his wife Dawn were en route to the Livestock festival in Zephyrhills, Florida. The driver of the other car was found to have a drunk driving record of seven prior DUIs and having a blood alcohol content of .294 percent.
Posted by Clei Junior on Saturday, April 19, 2025
Posted by Eduardo Souza on Saturday, April 19, 2025
Source: blabbermouth.net
