Savatage guitarist Chris Caffery has shared his profound enthusiasm for the iconic band’s reactivation, detailing their upcoming European performances and strongly hinting at a significant U.S. presence in 2026. In a recent interview with Rich Catino and Jack Mangan of MetalAsylum.net, Caffery described playing with Savatage again as a deeply personal and revitalizing experience.
The current touring lineup, featuring Caffery alongside Johnny Lee Middleton on bass, Al Pitrelli on guitar, Jeff Plate on drums, and Zak Stevens on lead vocals, recently completed shows in South America this past April and is now gearing up for a run of 10 dates in Europe.
“We’re gonna spend a week rehearsing in Germany in the second week of June, and then we’re gonna jump on a bus and drive around Europe for a couple weeks. And it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Caffery said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The European itinerary includes a mix of headline shows and prominent festival appearances, with varying set lengths planned. “We have five Savatage headline shows. We have two festivals we’re headlining, then we have three festivals we’re playing,” he detailed. “So the couple of festivals we’re headlining and those five shows will be the longer sets. So we’ll be doing the 90-minute set there and we’ll be doing the hour set on the other ones. We’re gonna swap a few songs here and there… just to make the shows a little bit different.”
Caffery also revealed that renowned lighting and video director Bryan Hartley will be handling their production: “We were fortunate enough to have Bryan Hartley come and do the lighting and video for us. So we’ve got that fr*cking awesomeness behind us… the production’s gonna be pretty cool over there.”
European appearances mentioned by Caffery include:
Savatage live shows:
- Jun 13, 2025 – Into The Grave Festival, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
- Jun 14, 2025 – Turbinhalle, Oberhausen, Germany )
- Jun 16, 2025 – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, UK
- Jun 18, 2025 – Komplex 457, Zürich, Switzerland
- Jun 19, 2025 – Zenith Die Kulturhalle, Munich, Germany
- Jun 21, 2025 – Hellfest, Clisson, France
- Jun 22, 2025 – Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, Belgium
- Jun 24, 2025 – Alcatraz, Milan, Italy
- Jun 26, 2025 – Barcelona Rock Fest, Barcelona, Spain
- Jun 28, 2025 – Rockwave Festival, Thessaloniki, Greece
For Caffery, having Savatage active again is more than just playing shows; it’s a vital part of his life. “I missed that part of my life. It was something that was always really special… There’s just something about Savatage that’s really a huge part of my heart and soul,” he confessed. “And having Savatage back in my life has been like a crutch… that little anchor in the middle right now that I’ve been missing.”
He described the feeling of returning to the stage with his bandmates: “We went on that stage for the first show, and part of you felt like you never left. I looked at Johnny and I looked at Zak and I’m going, ‘It’s been a long time, but that’s my brothers and this is my band.'” Comparing it to his work with the highly successful Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Caffery likened the Savatage experience to “going back to Disney World… It’s like I get to go on Space Mountain, and it’s fun.” He added, “When you stand in front of 40, 50,000 people and you start ‘Hall Of The Mountain King’, there’s a rush you get that is so fun… those songs are so good and it’s so powerful.”
Looking beyond the European dates, Caffery gave a strong indication that U.S. fans will have their chance to see the band in the near future. “Savatage is doing a lot next year. And the States are gonna be involved. That is when it would happen, I believe,” he stated. “We don’t have time to put something together for the States this year; we just don’t… we’ve been talking to other bands and trying to figure out exactly what it is we’d wanna do, and some bigger bands have already approached us about opening for them. So we’re trying to figure out what the plan is gonna be, but I have a feeling people are gonna be seeing a lot of Savatage next year.”.
