On July 27, SAVATAGE performed at the Amphitheater of Pompeii in Italy — one of the oldest surviving Roman amphitheaters — marking a historic moment for the progressive metal band.
The show, which featured a live orchestra, was unprecedented in the band's history and is expected to be the only time SAVATAGE performs at the venue.
According to bassist Johnny Lee Middleton, the band initially misunderstood the location as merely the city of Pompeii, but quickly realized the significance of the site.
'When they told me Pompeii, I just thought it was the city.
I didn't know it was the Amphitheater,' Middleton said in an interview with Metal Kaoz.
'And then we decided to do something special for that since it's such a special place.
It'll probably be the only time we ever get to play there.
So we came up with a whole set with orchestration.' Middleton added that the show would include extensive orchestral arrangements, with Al Pitrelli — guitarist and music director of TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA — and vocalist Jon Oliva collaborating on the arrangements.
'We're bringing in an orchestra, and we're gonna record it, and it's gonna be on DVD, and it's gonna be a special night,' Middleton said.
Guitarist Chris Caffery confirmed the show would be over two hours long, with numerous new arrangements.
'It's gonna be over two hours, probably leaning towards the two-hour side,' Caffery stated in an interview with Ed Hackimer of This Day In Metal.
'We have a 40-person orchestra and Al and Jon and even with our studio and musical directors from TSO are putting together really cool orchestrations for it.' Caffery also indicated that the performance would be professionally filmed and recorded, with plans to release it for public viewing.
'I never like to give official news until we get official news as a band,' Caffery said.
'But I'm pretty sure that that's gonna be one of those ones that we're not gonna go, 'Let's just fly away' without there being cameras running.
So I'm sure it'll be recorded and filmed.' The Pompeii show is part of SAVATAGE's broader 2026 'Prelude To Madness' European tour, which features the band's current lineup: vocalist Zak Stevens, guitarists Al Pitrelli and Chris Caffery, bassist Johnny Lee Middleton, and drummer Jeff Plate.
Plate was absent from the first two European dates due to medical reasons, with Blas Elias — a former member of TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and RATT — filling in.
The performance marks a continuation of SAVATAGE’s legacy of blending classical and rock elements, a theme first explored in the 1993 album 'Edge Of Thorns' and later refined in the 1995 release 'Dead Winter Dead'.
The band's return to the stage began in 2015 at Wacken Open Air, where 80,000 fans witnessed a powerful reunion performance, rekindling the band’s legacy.
Since then, SAVATAGE has played multiple headline shows, including in Brazil and across Europe, solidifying its status as a cornerstone of the metal world."