Savatage's Comeback at Hellfest 2025: "It's Like Going Back to Our Roots"
The American band is finally back on the road after a 10-year hiatus from performing. Bassist Johnny Lee Middleton and guitarist Chris Caffery give us a behind-the-scenes look at this miraculous comeback.
By Michel Valentin , special correspondent in Clisson (Loire-Atlantique)Savatage, the flagship metal band of the 1980s and 1990s, had a strange fate. After overcoming the tragedy of the fatal car accident of its founding guitarist, Criss Oliva (1963-1993), the band had to deal with the addictions and illnesses of its other founder, singer Jon Oliva.
And he and his musicians found themselves embroiled in an extraordinary adventure, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This versatile ensemble, unknown in Europe but enjoying incredible success across the Atlantic, offers adaptations of Christmas carols, classical music pieces, and rock songs, during a spectacular and very lucrative show that sells out everywhere it goes.
Le Parisien
