In a new interview with Thomas Moser of Germany’s Rock Antenne, SAVATAGE guitarist Chris Caffery spoke about the reactivated band’s upcoming shows in Europe and South America. Joining Chris in SAVATAGE’s current touring lineup are Johnny Lee Middleton on bass, Al Pitrelli on guitar, Jeff Plate on drums and Zak Stevens on lead vocals. Regarding how he and his SAVATAGE bandmates will decide on the songs that they are going to perform live, Caffery said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I told [the other guys in the band] not to let me [choose the songs for the setlist] because I would have a five-hour set. I’m the worst person to ask. I like every song. So, as soon as I think of a song, I’m, like, ‘That one should be there.’ So I just let everybody talk. We’re asking the fans [ to help us come up with the setlist.”He continued: “We’re looking at the obvious: which songs does it seem like people are listening to on a daily basis? You’re able to see that now. You get a good idea of which ones you have to do. And with Zak singing everything, we have to be kind to him because he’s gonna be doing an awful lot of singing, and some of that stuff that was [SAVATAGE mastermind] Jon [Oliva] on the [original] recordings, it’s not Zak’s natural voice to be singing that, so we don’t wanna put too much pressure on him to have to do too much of that. So, of course, we wanna go a little heavy on the things that Zak had sang, but we’re still doing a lot of the classics.”The good thing about SAVATAGE is all our title tracks seem to one of the most popular songs from each record,” Caffery explained. “So we’re able to do it that way. And that helps when you’re trying to make a decision. Instead of going, ‘We’ve gotta do the ‘Edge Of Thorns’ record,’ and imagine if ‘Edge Of Thorns’ was one of these really bizarre, artsy kind of songs. Then you had to pick one of the other ten, which, say, if every song was one that everybody liked, at least ‘Edge Of Thorns’ is obviously one that they’re gonna want to hear. So that helps us out in that way. I think that the only record where you really don’t pull straight to the title track with SAVATAGE — well, there’s two, actually, because [with ‘Streets: A Rock Opera’] everybody tends to go right towards ‘Believe’ or ‘Jesus Saves’. And then you look at ‘Poets And Madmen’, where it was the only SAVATAGE record where we didn’t have a title track. The rest of ’em, ‘Hall Of The Mountain King’, ‘Power Of The Night’, ‘Sirens’, ‘Gutter Ballet’, ‘Handful Of Rain’, ‘The Wake of Magellan’, it writes its own setlist… Some of the ones kind of decide for themselves through that. And then, you wanna have a good variety. There’s so many of the songs that had the counterpoint vocals in it where the multiple vocals were going, and that kind of thing. I just know that songs like ‘Chance’ [from ‘Handful Of Rain’] definitely had a marriage with the live crowds that was very special. And you just remember what worked, and you try to put it all together. Of course, we have a festival set time and then a headlining set time. And we’re getting together extra songs so we can maybe swap around the headline shows since there’s only a few of ’em.”Jon Oliva, SAVATAGE’s founding vocalist and keyboardist, in 2023 suffered a T7 vertebra fracture in three places, a severe injury that has left him relying on a wheelchair. Additionally, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Ménière’s disease, conditions that have further complicated his health.Zak joined SAVATAGE in 1992 as the replacement for Jon Oliva. Zak sang on four albums with the band — “Edge Of Thorns” (1993),”Handful Of Rain” (1994),”Dead Winter Dead” (1995) and “The Wake Of Magellan” (1997) — before departing in 2000, allowing Jon to return. Both Jon and Zak took part in SAVATAGE’s 2015 performance at Wacken Open Air, which marked the band’s first, and only so far, appearance on stage since they went on hiatus back in 2002.SAVATAGE’s last album release, “Poets And Madmen”, in 2001 was highlighted by Jon’s return as lead vocalist, replacing Zak, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of Pitrelli, who accepted an offer to join MEGADETH in 2000. Pitrelli did record solos for some songs prior to his exit. Another very limited U.S. tour followed, supported by FATES WARNING in the early shows, and then NEVERMORE for the remainder. Around this time, Jon chose Zak’s replacement in the form of Damond Jiniya (DIET OF WORMS). Damond performed Zak’s parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.In September 2021, Jon Oliva was arrested on the west central coast of Florida for driving under the influence as well as possession of a controlled substance. Police charged Oliva with possession of cocaine, which is a felony, and DUI, which is a misdemeanor. Oliva was reportedly arrested again in July 2023 on another cocaine possession charge.Back in 2016, Jon announced on social media that he suffered a stroke in April of that year. At the time, he said: “It was not as serious as it could have been, but it did leave me with some physical recovery challenges often associated with strokes.”Despite his health issues, Jon said that he didn’t regret the way he had lived his life. He wrote: “I lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle since I was 18. It’s all I knew and I enjoyed the ride very much. But there comes a time in everyone’s life where you have to step back and make some life-changing decisions… which I have.”Shortly after SAVATAGE’s reunion performance at the 2015 Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, Oliva claimed that he felt better than he had in 20 years because he had “stopped drinking and eating” in preparation for the concert. He explained: “It’s my voice that’s freaking me out, because, even when I was in my late 20s, early 30s, doing songs like ’24 Hours Ago’ were always really hard to do. And, of course, I didn’t realize that it was all the drugs and alcohol I was doing. But, after doing that, getting my act together and stuff, singing ’24 Hours Ago’, it’s actually easy now. [Laughs]”In addition to his work with SAVATAGE, Oliva is well known for co-creating the aforementioned classical music-meets-prog rock and pyro act TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA alongside Paul O’Neill. Oliva has reportedly remained involved in TSO’s activities even after O’Neill’s April 2017 death of an accidental drug overdose.Jon’s brother Criss, who was one of the founding members of SAVATAGE, was killed in October 1993 by a drunk driver when he and his wife Dawn were en route to the Livestock festival in Zephyrhills, Florida. The driver of the other car was found to have a drunk driving record of seven prior DUIs and having a blood alcohol content of .294 percent.[embedded content]