The legendary Savatage (Johnny Lee Middleton - bass, Chris Caffery - guitars, Al Pitrelli - guitars, Jeff Plate - drums, and Zak Stevens - vocals) have announced tour dates across Europe for summer 2025, with a mix of festival appearances and headline shows.
Caffery has shared the following message to the fans:
"When people ask me where the best audience in the world is, I immediately tell them that there is nowhere like Greece! I visually can remember in my mind the last headline show Savatage played at the basketball arena in Athens. The fans were singing 'Show Must Go On' by Queen as we waited for our intro to play. That was our as we call '5 and dive' song that tour; the song you play when the lights go down before you start your show. The volume of the fans singing along was insane. Sent chills up your spine. I looked at Johnny Lee and said every single thing you dreamed of as a kid and everything you went through as a musician was worth it for this one moment.
That show, the crowd sang my guitar solos louder than the PA system! The connection with that crowd at that show was something I had never experienced and have not experienced since.
I can’t wait to experience this once again as Savatage returns to Greece to headline Rockwave June 28th, 2025!
When Savatage stopped playing in 2003, I wrote 70 songs as I awaited the band to play again. In the middle of this creative and psychological frustration, I was introduced to a new Greek Record label called Black Lotus Records. They flew me to Athens to talk and I signed a record deal and recorded, Faces. I spent a ton of time there doing business, press and even mastered the CD there. I have always considered Greece my home away from home. Where we spent living in Astoria, New York City writing and recording Dead Winter Dead, Wake Of Magellan, and Poets And Madmen was mostly a Greek neighborhood. I spent over a decade there and much of my time was spent being welcomed into their world as a family member. I can’t wait to go back home to Greece with my brothers in Savatage next year!
We will celebrate Rockwave’s 30th anniversary together with our Greek Legion and I’m sure it will create new memories just like the ones we had before!
See you soon my friends! ας ετοιμαστούμε για ένα πάρτι!"
Zak Stevens commented on the upcoming tour:
"As you can imagine, there are so many special things about these shows that are racing through my mind. We get to play a series of headline shows for the first time in over twenty years that will put us right back in front of all of the unbelievable fans who have given us so many unforgettable memories over the last three decades. Here’s our chance to directly give back to everyone who’s been there supporting us all these years! All the great festival shows are going to be off-the-charts amazing. It’s even hard to imagine the scale of excitement that’s going to take place with those shows."
Savatage mastermind Jon Oliva expressed his disappointment at not being able to join the band for the shows, but shared his excitement, stating: "I am very excited for the guys to be doing some shows. Unfortunately, due to health issues, I will not be able to join the guys for this run. Hopefully, this is just temporary. I will continue working in the studio on new music for the future. These shows will be awesome and I will be working with them to get it all ready for you. I know everyone is going to love it!!! Me and the guys are very excited and ready to kick ass! So from me, thank you all for the support for all these years and we can’t wait to rock you!"
For further details, including ticket/festival links, head to savatage.com. Find a video trailer below.
South American dates:
April
19 - São Paulo, Brazil - Monsters Of Rock
21 - São Paulo, Brazil - Espaço Unimed (Headline Date)
23 - Santiago, Chile - Masters Of Rock
European dates:
June
13 - Leeuwarden, Netherlands - Into The Grave
14 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle (Headline Date)
16 - London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire (Headline Date)
18 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex 457 (Headline Date)
19 - Munich, Germany - Tonhalle (Headline Date)
22 - Dessel, Belgium - Grapop Metal Meeting
24 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz (Headline Date)
26 - Barcelona, Spain - Rock Fest
28 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Rockwave
(Photo - Josh Ruzansky)
