Saga at Arcada Theater, St. Charles, IL (2024-10-17)

One of the best and longest tenured Canadian prog pop rock bands (that many have barely heard of), are returning to the Midwest, playing a rare date outside of Chicago, at the same venue they played five years ago, to the month. Prior to that show, they hadn’t played a Chicagoland concert since 1985, so these live appearances are special and treasured.

Saga formed in 1977 in Oakville, Ontario, releasing their self-titled debut album the following year. Since then, the band has sold over ten million albums and performed in over 20 countries to over 15 million people.

Their hits include "Don't Be Late", "Wind Him Up", "The Flyer", "Scratching The Surface", and their biggest US radio success, "On The Loose" and they were forward thinking enough to film early music videos that MTV played in regular rotation, in its early days.

The band’s recorded content is vast- with almost two dozen studio albums and the latest being the acoustic-leaning, "Symmetry", from 2021 via earMUSIC. Their biggest markets outside of Canada have been such diverse places as Germany, Puerto Rico, and the Nordic countries, but they’ve cultivated some kind of still-loyal core fan base in almost every country.

Approaching fifty years as a band, they’ve sounded refreshed and anew since the return of singer Michael Sadler, and additions of newer members, drummer Mike Thorne and bassist Dusty Chesterfield, giving added life to their classic songs.

Sadler recently had a cancerous growth successfully removed, and the one remaining “X-factor” is legendary guitarist Ian Crichton, who broke his foot/leg and was left unable to play a full live show. Chesterfield stepped into the guitar duties while friend Michael 'Mike' Borkosky joined on bass, but of course, we’re very much hoping Crichton will be healed enough to perform again (even if from a chair).

“We’ll be back, I promise.” Sadler said at the finish of their 2019 Arcada appearance, and five years later, he’s kept his word, and we couldn’t be more excited.