Savatage have locked in summer 2026 for Prelude To Madness, a European run that mixes nine headline dates with key festival stops. The tour opens July 19 in Istanbul, a fitting marker for a band that re-entered the live arena in 2025 after nearly two decades away. Select shows will feature Armored Saint, Vision Divine, and Nevermore. Among the milestones: a one-off at the Amphitheater of Pompeii with an orchestra — a bucket-list setting for any metal act and a first for Savatage.
Pre-sales begin November 4 via Savatage.com, with general on-sale following Friday, November 7. The pitch is simple: a career-spanning set built for old die-hards and curious returnees alike, with a nod to “The Legion,” the loyal fan collective that’s kept the flame burning through the long quiet years.
Vocalist Zak Stevens, guitarists Al Pitrelli and Chris Caffery, bassist Johnny Lee Middleton, and drummer Jeff Plate frame the show as an honest document of who they are now — less nostalgia cash-in, more continuation after a hard reset.
Zak Stevens puts it plainly: “After last year’s amazing tours of South America and Europe, I’m VERY excited for the Savatage 2026 headline shows in Europe. This run is going to be awesome. This will be the first time Savatage has ever played in Istanbul, Bucharest, Este (Italy), Warsaw, and Leipzig (Germany). We’ve got nine headline shows lined up so far, along with several festivals. We are excited to see our old friends Armored Saint, Vision Divine, and Nevermore as special guests. I can’t wait to see everyone out there getting loud and celebrating the music with us.”
Context matters with Savatage. Formed in Tampa by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva, the band threaded high-drama songwriting with sharp musicianship across era-defining releases: Hall Of The Mountain King (1987) reset the bar; the 1991 rock opera Streets widened the narrative scope; post-tragedy, after the loss of guitarist Criss Oliva and the success of 1993’s Edge Of Thorns, they regrouped and delivered the pivotal Dead Winter Dead (1995). That arc — innovation in public, recovery in private — is why this return resonates beyond mere legacy victory laps.
During the touring hiatus, a passionate underground kept pushing for activity. The 2015 reunion at Wacken Open Air drew roughly 80,000 and underlined the point: Savatage never disappeared from the conversation; they were simply between chapters. Prelude To Madness feels like the next one, with first-time stops (Istanbul, Bucharest, Este, Warsaw, Leipzig), a high-profile orchestral night in Pompeii, and a supporting cast that makes sense for their lineage.
Savatage “Prelude To Madness” 2026 Tour Dates:
06/3-6 – Sweden, Sölvesborg – Sweden Rock Festival *
07/19 – Istanbul, Turkey – Zorlu PSM Turkcell Sahnesi
07/21 – Bucharest, Romania – Arenele Romane Open Air (special guest: Trooper)
07/23 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria – BE4 Hills *
07/25 – Athens, Greece – Release Festival *
07/27 – Pompeii, Italy – Amphitheatre of Pompeii (very special show with orchestra)
07/28 – Este, Italy – Castello Carrarese (special guest: Vision Divine)
07/30 – Wacken, Germany – Wacken Open Air *
08/01 – Tilburg, Netherlands – O13
08/03 – Pratteln, Switzerland – Z7 Open Air (special guest: Nevermore)
08/05 – Villena, Spain – Leyendas Del Rock *
08/07 – Kortrijk, Belgium – Alcatraz Festival *
08/08 – Hamburg, Germany – Elb-Riot *
08/09 – Geiselwind, Germany – Keep It True *
08/11 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja (special guests: Nevermore and Armored Saint)
08/12 – Leipzig, Germany – Parkbühne (special guest: Nevermore)
08/13 – Bonn, Germany – KUNST!RASEN (special guest: Nevermore)
08/15 – Moravský Krumlov, Czech Republic – Rock Castle *
* Headline shows
