Photos/Review: Savatage return to London

Still the Orchestra Plays…

For metalheads worldwide, we thought this day would never come. We thought this tour would never happen, and we thought we’d just never hear these songs live again, at least not with a lineup that included more than a member or two of our beloved Savatage. Sure, we got teased with half of a Savatage set at Wacken Open Air in 2015 (split with Trans-Siberian Orchestra), but that was not the reunion the world needed. This time, though, it’s the Jon Oliva-approved lineup of Zak Stevens on vocals, Chris Caffery and Al Pitrelli on guitar, Johnny Lee Middleton on bass, and Jeff Plate behind the kit – all key members of the Savatage story. Most notably absent, though, is the Mountain King himself, Jon Oliva. The show goes on with his blessing, just as it did after his brother Criss’ tragic death in 1994 and, more recently, the passing of their longtime producer & collaborator, Paul O’Neill, in 2017. But against all odds in 2025, Savatage is back with the same energy they left off with in the early 2000’s. Despite being an American band, they haven’t announced a single reunion date in the US just yet. So I did what any rational person would do and bought a roundtrip ticket to London to catch their headline show at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Before the show, the crowd was easy to pick out as I got closer to the venue from my hotel. Despite the massive wait for Savatage’s return, the crowd was surprisingly open-minded for the opener, a young and hungry band by the name of Induction, who weren’t actually listed as being on the show (not even on the ticket app or the venue website). Their particular brand of metal is very much an ’80s throwback and solidified by (mostly) big hair and incredibly tight guitar work. And if you weren’t into it when they started playing, their rendition of “The Final Countdown“ probably hooked you right in. It was refreshing to hear such traditional metal being written by a new generation of bands.

Induction

Photo Credit: Tom Mis

Between sets, everyone’s buzzing about the setlist from Savatage’s sold-out show a few nights earlier in Oberhausen, Germany. These fans are the truest of the true – Savatage didn’t fit any trend or mold particularly well while they were active in the 80s through the early 2000s, pre-TSO, so almost everyone here is a diehard. I simply struggle with the idea of a “casual“ Savatage fan. There’s a level of loyalty, a cult following, that surrounds the band. Judging by the fans that had lined up outside the venue well before doors were scheduled to open, the anticipation is the only thing thicker than the fog I would’ve expected over downtown London – some of us have been waiting for this night for decades – myself included.

After a dramatic introduction, culminating in 1997’s “Welcome“ from The Wake of Magellan, the band goes fast and heavy into the hits. You could argue that “Jesus Saves“ and “Power of the Night“ are two of their most iconic songs, and would’ve been perfectly at home in an encore, but kicking off the night with these classics ignited something primal in this crowd. Though most of us have never seen Savatage before, we were eating out of Zak’s hand as he queued up the epic chorus of “Jesus Saves“ for us, every time. Caffery and Pitrelli continued to honor the memory of the legendary Criss Oliva with the crushing riffs and leads on “Power of the Night.” It’s humbling to be reminded of what Criss was able to compose and perform at such a young age. Consider for a moment the caliber of guitar player that has stepped into Criss’ shoes over the years, whether in the studio or on the live stage – Alex Skolnick, Jeff Waters, and of course, Caffery & Pitrelli – and these early Savatage tracks are as much a tribute to Criss as they were crowd-pleasers to us.

The setlist was meticulously paced and crafted – and it had to be, since the band released 11 studio recordings in 18 years. While it’s odd to consider 1995’s Dead Winter Dead and the aforementioned The Wake of Magellan from 1997 their “newer“ material, it really is newer, relative to Sirens from 1983, with the setlist leaning into Magellan in particular. While not every album was represented tonight, we got a taste of almost every era. We got our big dramatic moments, like “Believe“ and “Chance“ (and while this isn’t a TSO tour with a full choir and orchestra, the theatrics were still there!), but we also got our classic driving riffs like “Strange Wings“ and “Dead Winter Dead.”

I want to call out a really special moment – while Jon was not present for the show, the band prepared a special way to include him. A pre-recorded video of Jon behind the piano led the live band into their legendary track “Believe,“ and ended in the most epic fashion. While the band kicked in to perform the majority of the song, Jon’s video was carefully synced to the band, so much so that it was brought back in the outro for Jon and Zak to trade lines and even harmonize. While it doesn’t quite compare to seeing the Mountain King in the flesh, it was an incredibly special moment for the fans. And lastly, while Caffery & Pitrelli are careful to honor the spirit of the late Criss Oliva’s solos, Caffery paid special attention to the “Believe“ solo, which was synced up to photos of a young Criss, many alongside his brother Jon, from the early days of the band.

Savatage only flirted with the mainstream, never quite breaking in – but you’d never believe it by the time the setlist hit “Gutter Ballet“ from the album of the same name. It felt that booking the show at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – with a capacity of only 2,000 people – was a cautionary move to test the waters and gauge demand for the band’s return, but I can say with confidence that it was simply too small. Everyone in that audience – and I mean everyone – hung on for dear life as the band played us like puppets, taking their time, guitars feeding back wildly, teasing some of the most iconic outros in metal, like the last “but I don’t think about you anymore“ from “Edge of Thorns.“ And while I’ve never considered Savatage the kind of band that you would crowdsurf for, London proved me wrong. For a song driven by piano, the crowdsurfers lit up for the 1994 title track, and if I wasn’t packing my camera, I might have joined them.

And of course, no show is complete without an encore – and we finally got “Nothing Going On“ and the “Hall of the Mountain King“ before the band left the stage for the final time. The history of Savatage is a long story full of victories and tragedies – all set to an iconic soundtrack. But this reunion is undoubtedly a victory. Still, the orchestra plays.