I'm not sure how I missed this, but this article was apparently posted back in February. I'm a little surprised that it hasn't been reported anywhere else:
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_tours/savatage_plan_reunion_tour.htmlIn short, some Russian booking agency is trying to get Savatage to play a couple of shows in Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg). Apparently, Savatage wants 10,000 votes on a petition before they agree to do it. If this does happen, I may have to beg and plead with my girlfriend's family (who is Russian) if there is some cheap way to get there. I would give anything to see this band paying a full show as Savatage again, even if it meant traveling halfway around the world.
Additionally, this has sparked a thought in my mind: if enough people were to sign a petition, would they consider doing this in the states? Seriously, I see no reason why this band cannot play a few shows in select cities (New York, Chicago, LA, and perhaps 3 or 4 others), and perhaps do the same for Europe, South America and the Asian Rim. I'm talking a world tour that would last less then two months. If it is even a remote possibility, it will be the fans that have to make it happen Considering the fact that more fans continue to discover Savatage through TSO, and the capability of the internet to exponentially increase the awareness of an otherwise unknown band, I would not be surprised if Savatage has more fans
now, during their absence, then they did back at their height in the early 90's.
I've been listening to a lot of late-era Savatage recently, and I'm starting to realize that there really is no true substitute for Savatage. For the past few years, I have tried to cope by giving an interest in the various projects of the members of Savatage, but while TSO, JOP, CIIC, & the CC Band all have elements of Savatage, no single one of them really captures every aspect of what that band once was. We really need this band back, even if it is something that only happens once every few years. It is a damn shame this band choose to quit while they were in the middle of a renaissance, and it is a tragedy that they have not continued to develop their legacy. All their side projects are fine, but the real Savatage needs to make a resurgence now. The time is right, and we should find some way to get our opinions to Paul and Jon and make this happen!