March 1, 2004
CURRENT AND FORMER MEMBERS OF SAVATAGE "UNITE" TO HEADLINE PROGPOWER V
ATLANTA Current and former members of Savatage will unite for one night
only to headline ProgPower V this September in Atlanta.
The festival, which will be held September 17 and 18 at Earthlink Live,
will feature Jon Oliva, Zak Stevens, Chris Caffery, and Steve "Dr. Kill
Drums" Wacholz performing a set from Savatage's entire discography in an
exclusive performance. In addition to the full set, fans can expect a
sneak preview of Jon Oliva's "Tage Mahal."
"I'm really excited about this show, said Stevens. The last time I did a
full show with these guys was at the PopComm Festival in Germany 1999.
I've been waiting for the right time for us to get together. That time
has come and where better than the ProgPower festival?"
Added Jon Oliva: "We've been talking with Zak about doing a special show
ever since he left Savatage, but it's really hard to get every one's
schedules together for a rare event like this. It was nearly impossible
this time around and it probably won't ever happen again, so we'll make
this one special! We plan on playing several songs we rarely ever
performed live...this should be good!
Germanys Edguy will return to Atlanta after an overwhelming response at
2002s ProgPower III. "ProgPower was our first big step in the USA as a
band, said Edguy vocalist Tobias Sammet. Glenn (the promoter) had the
balls to take the risk and build something over there to support the
music we all love so much but was claimed DEAD in the USA not long ago.
Well, for dead people, all the lovely fans there down in front of the
stage looked pretty good."
ProgPower II veterans Kamelot will also make a return appearance at the
festival. We are very pleased to be returning for ProgPower V, said
Thomas Youngblood. ProgPower is the highest class of the US Festivals
and gives many metal fans a chance to see the bands that do not get to
tour the US. We are planning to play songs from our previous albums, as
well as some new ones from the upcoming album that we are currently in
production with. And there are always some nice surprises with our live
shows.
Progressive metal icons Pain of Salvation will perform an exclusive set
for ProgPower USA this year. The set list will be picked entirely by the
fans via online voting. Details will be announced via the festival
website in the coming weeks.
In ProgPower tradition, several European bands will make North American
debuts - Denmarks Wuthering Heights, Germanys Dreamscape, and Frances
Adagio with Germanys Brainstorm, Swedens Tad Morose, and Canadas Into
Eternity rounding out the lineup.
Tickets will go on sale May 1 via all Ticketmaster outlets. Only 900
tickets will be made available to the public once again. Gold Badges
(special patron tickets) are already sold-out.
Tickets for the 1,500-seat venue have sold out within two weeks for the
past two shows.
"People keep asking me why I don't move to a bigger venue since the show
sells out every year, said promoter Glenn Harveston. Well, the success
of ProgPower USA is not based only on the roster and tickets sold, but
the intimacy and atmosphere that I am able to create. It's what makes
this show unique here in the States."
Sponsorship, CD sampler, and program advertising information is
available at
www.progpowerusa.com.
