I haven't seen TSO in a couple of years. Both my wife and I huge fans, but for us the winter tour setlists have grown a bit stale. I still have yet to see Zak perform in TSO, and this would be a great opportunity to do so. Since I'll see them in Chicago or Milwaukee, it's a bit of a crap-shoot as to which version of TSO we get, but if I miss out on Zak... well I think Russell Allen is touring with TSO West, and that man never disappoints live.
Personally, the
Beethoven's Last Night show I saw in 2012 was the highlight of my TSO experiences. Not only is that my favorite album by them, but hearing them play "Chance" in the encore was a real treat. It's a shame Zak wasn't touring with them at the time, but seeing Caffery, Pitrelli, Middleton and Plate all on stage together playing a Savatage classic is still the closest I have seen to seeing the actual band live.
Jeff Plate gave an interview recently and talked a bit about why things around Savatage have stayed quiet since Wacken 2015. You can read more here:
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/trans-siberian-orchestra-drummer-says-he-would-really-love-to-see-savatage-reunite/ but it is pretty much what I thought it would be; there was talk of doing something Savatage related after the 2015 TSO winter tour but Jon's stroke in 2016 and Paul's passing in 2017 basically put that on hold. That being said, I would still give anything to see TSO do a non-Christmas Savatage tour with all six members of the
Dead Winter Dead/Wake of Magellan lineup. There are just so many great songs in the Savatage catalog that could be used to spice up TSO setlists and through all the Savatage fans a bone or two.
As for
Romanov, Gutter Ballet II and
Running with the Passion of the Fairytale Moon , I'm sure those albums will see the light of day. As I understand it, they were fully written well before Paul's death, and all were at various stages of recording. It's just a matter of the band finding the time between tours to finish them up in the studio and get them released. When that will happen, I have no idea; it's already been 3 years since
Letters from the Labyrinth, but I'm sure they'll complete those records, if for no other reason then the fact Paul would have wanted them to.