A little over a year ago, Music Life Magazine interviewed Saga frontman Michael Sadler and the topic of the band’s 40th anniversary in 2017 came up. And the time, he said that the band had some big plans to mark the occasion. And it turns out there are big places indeed. One of the biggest is that the band is essentially retiring from the road, and taking an indefinite hiatus.
“This year marks 4 decades of writing, recording and touring as a band. However, after much deliberation and discussion, my brothers and I have regretfully decided that after 40 incredible years together, 2017 will be Saga’s ‘Final Chapter.’ With the exception of a very special one-off performance on the 2018 Cruise to the Edge, I’m afraid this is it, folks!” said vocalist Michael Sadler in a social media posting early into the New Year, which continued on to thank their fans for their unwavering support.
“Although it will be bittersweet, we’re very much looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible this year. We will make every effort to visit new territories and hope that the circumstances will allow it.”
Saga has released 21 studio records under various major international record label configurations, and became one of the top Canadian acts in markets throughout Europe, as well as retaining a loyal fan base in their home and native land. After a short run through Ontario and Quebec in March, Sadler and fellow Saga co-founders Ian and Jim Crichton (bass and guitar respectively) and long-time keyboardist Jim ‘Daryl’ Gilmour (who joined in late 1979), alongside drummer Mike Thorne, who joined in 2012, will head off to Europe to say farewell to fans in strongholds such as Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Austria. For a time throughout most of the 1980s, Saga was so popular in Germany that a number of band members actually moved there.
That decade was the band’s commercial heyday in North America, with songs like Flyer, On the Loose, Wind Him Up, Catwalk, What Do I Know, Scratching the Surface, Don’t Be Late and Only Time Will Tell receiving solid airplay on classic rock radio to this day. As Saga’s commercial fortunes faded in a fickle North American market, the band continued to tour relentlessly to raucous crowds throughout Europe and also on the island of Puerto Rico. After a very short break at the beginning of the 1990s the band released new studios albums regularly and frequently – 14 albums over a 21 year period, up to Sagacity, which came out in 2014.
And apart from a short interregnum when Sadler left the band to spend more time with his wife and young son Seren from the end of 2007 to the end of 2011, he has been a defining presence for the band, with a powerfully expressive voice, and charismatic stage presence that makes him one of the most evocative and entertaining front people in Canadian rock and roll lore.
In a more recent conversation with Music Life Magazine, which was his first in-depth interview on the subject of Saga’s metaphorical ride off into the sunset, Sadler said that there will be more dates in Canada as the year progresses, and that he harbours a keen wish for the band’s final show.
“What I am thinking is that, in a perfect world, I would love to wrap up the year in Toronto on New Year’s Eve. I think it would be extremely fitting. I am not particular about the venue, but to get Massey Hall would be great. I just think that evening would be the right event to put a little bow on the whole situation and celebration. And ‘Saga and Friends’ might be a good idea too. That way anybody and everybody who is in the vicinity and can make it, who has either recorded with us, played with us live could come. Yeah, that would be phenomenal because God knows we’ve had an arsenal of players over the years. That could be very cool and you turn it into a real event that way,” he said from his sister’s home in Oakville, where he was staying during the lead-up to the Spring Canadian mini-tour, and the Ontario town where the band began.
“There are lots of things we could do for that final night, but I just think it’s befitting the occasion and the importance of the moment to wrap it up in Toronto. But, make no mistake – and I have said this to a few people along the way – essentially we’re going off the road. It doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to stop making music. We might for a while, but music is so embedded in us I can’t believe that we would walk away from this and not be creative. So it’s really just the touring thing that’s definitely coming to an end. And I really do think coming off the road for good with New Year’s Eve as the last show would be the way to go.
“Listen, I said I was leaving the band in 2007 and I did. That was my full intention. I came back because it was right four years or so later. And I always said that I would only do it if it made sense to everybody, and it did. So this move is a similar thing. We have made a decision. The band is ending its run as a touring entity and we’re going to do some other stuff. It’s the end of a chapter for sure.”
Although he should have known the announcement would cause an emotional reaction and social media onslaught, Sadler said he and his bandmates, who have always had their fingers in the pulse of their fans’ mood, were still surprised at the outpouring they have continued to get in the weeks since the 40th Anniversary/Final Tour statement was issued.
“Initially it was people saying, ‘oh shit, why?’ But the overwhelming sentiment that I got from them was ‘I am sad, I am disappointed, but I understand.’ Eighty per cent of it was people saying they got it. ‘It’s a shame, we will miss you, you will live in our hearts’ and all that sort of stuff. They get it, which is really cool, and that’s one of the greatest things about our fans,” he said.
“Face it, after 40 years these people have grown up with the band, literally in a lot of cases. We have two or three generations of families in some audiences and it’s great, and that’s especially the case over in Europe. These people know us and we know them – I know a lot of them by name and their kids as well. I am shocked as to how many responses came in over such a short time. I went to bed after posting the message pretty late and got up the next morning and there were like 25,000 responses. It’d be cool to get all 25,000 in a room together.”
In terms of who made the call to wrap up Saga’s career in year 40, Sadler said it was a total band decision, and that while there are always some second thoughts, they are solid in their evaluation that the right time to end the band was now, on a high note.
“We were over in Germany when the thing all went down amongst ourselves and we knew that one of the first people we had to give the heads up to was our promoter over there. Because they wanted to have a meeting regarding 2017 and how to approach that year’s touring, obviously keeping in mind that it was the 40th and did we want to do anything special. And in preparation for that discussion we had a little pow wow and, the real nuts and bolts of it was all of us just sitting down and looking around at each other and asking, ‘okay, how are we all feeling about this and the 40th anniversary and how can we make it special?’ And I don’t remember if there was an actual concrete question about moving forward after the 40th or not but the subject came up,” Sadler explained.
“But to be honest some of us were thinking about what comes next, which is an eventuality whether you get to the 40th, or the 50th, or the 60th anniversary. The beauty of stopping after the 40th is that it’s a built-in hook, it’s just a good, significant number – it really is. And what I think is very important, and this is backed up by fan feedback and reviews is that we are, for some reason, I don’t want to say playing better than in the 1980s because it’s different obviously, but I feel we are almost at the absolute top of our game right now.
“When we hit the stage these days, everything’s in really fine form and we are so genuinely enjoying ourselves and everybody is just so ‘on.’ Any demons we may have had, if they’re not completely gone, they’re living in a closet where nobody knows how to find the key … or even the closet. I’d rather go out leaving people in shock and awe and wanting more. It’s always better to go out on a high. And the optics of 40 being such a good number; say we do go on and decide to finish it at the 45th, I just don’t think it has the same ring to it and the same impact – for cachet alone. And it still gives everybody in the band breathing room in terms of being alive to do something else, even if it’s us and we do something in four or five years, whatever. But let’s grab hold of this year and make it really special for everybody involved and walk away, graciously, saying thank you.”
A lot of it comes down to ensuring that all five members of the band are having fun, and not wanting to anticipate the day when touring becomes a chore.
“We’re looking at life in a very, very healthy way. We’re looking at what we’ve done and we’re very, very proud of it. So let’s stop now. And you know what it is, if you feel that day is coming where it’s not fun anymore; if you can see that down the road, why purposely drive the car towards that cliff, why? If you’re saying to yourself, ‘one day that’s going to happen’ if you can see that down at the end of the journey, don’t drive down to the end of the road. Let’s stop while it’s still fun for us and the audience is still excited about seeing us,” Sadler said.
“If you’re at the stage where you can actually see that day coming and feel it, where you’re like, ‘I don’t even want to walk out on that stage and go through the motions.’ If that’s starting to seem like a reality in the near future – now is the time to stop.”
Admitting that it’s hard to speak authoritatively about the band’s legacy at this point – something he feels will come with more time to reflect, possibly towards the end of 2017 or even in the years to come – Sadler said there are things that he truly will miss and is sincerely grateful for over such a lengthy, productive and interesting career in one of the most unforgiving of industries.
“You know what I am most proud of is that we, as a whole – the band, the name Saga – whatever incantation or incarnation there’s been over the years, I am most proud of maintaining our relevance. And it’s not just me saying this. I have read this countless times that we have been able to stay relevant and productive and that we keep challenging ourselves. Somehow, through all the changes in the music business, we’ve stayed pretty much true to what we do, and stayed relevant enough to last 40 years and be fresh after 40 years. I am most proud of that,” he said.
“And there are so many routes and side stories and sidetracks that made up those 40 years. We went through a lot of interesting times, and of course it’s not all good and it wouldn’t be a great story if it was all good. But no moment could have been bad enough that it didn’t allow us to stand the test of time. And that includes the fans.
“There were a couple of times when, I swear. I thought we were going to lose a lot of them because of some of our creative misadventures and musical experiments. And some of them did take a pause. I see it on Facebook all the time where people say they dropped us after a certain album, but then rediscovered us a few years later. But that’s all part of the ride, isn’t it?”
Then there is the matter of a possible final studio album for Saga – a work of substance, not simply a marketing package of rehashes, remixes, B-sides and odds and ends.
“We have been wrestling with the idea for sure. We talked and decided that if we’re going to do one, let’s not do the novelty thing with maybe a couple of new songs and maybe a few live tracks. Let’s do one to be proud of. If we’re going to do one, let’s do one like World’s Apart, which is arguably our best, both musically and commercially, let’s get it right. And we’re writing all the time and actually we’re writing now with that in mind. What I would like to offer is a complexly full-blown final album, or certainly the better part of one, with some archive material and some video footage to go along with it,” he said.
“I would like to record as many of the shows this year as possible. I want cameras on the entire year, backstage and in front of the stage. I want some footage at the end of this year that will allow us to put together a really, really cool audiovisual package. And hopefully part of that package would be the final send off – a great record that we’re really proud of. We have the material, I am sure, in us.”
Interestingly, Sadler is not one of those veteran musicians who complains about the travel and the wear and tear and boredom it can engender – even after four decades of globetrotting.
“There’s tons I am going to miss, don’t get me wrong. I love touring. A lot of guys hate the grind, they hate the slogging it out and the travel and in and out of hotels or motels, and they usually say ‘but it’s the two hours on stage that makes it worthwhile every night,’” he said.
“Well, yeah, at the end of the day it does. But I am one of those who is intrigued and fascinated by the human condition. I am just a fan of the whole experience, the whole travel thing. I love airports and I love the whole hotel check in scenario. I love the whole ritual around touring, and I will miss that because I truly enjoyed it. And of course you get to top it off by playing every night, which is so cool. So I will miss that. Someone asked me if I am going to miss Germany because it’s been such a huge part of our career and our lives. Well of course I am. And then a couple of days later it hit me – wow, we’re going to stop going over there for now. We’re not going over there any more. We may go over there individually; in fact I have something lined up for 2018, but it’s not in the form that it’s been for 40 years, or in that capacity that I am so used to – that comfort zone where it’s like, ‘oh great, we get to do that again.’”
Sadler already knows what his immediate future after 2017 will entail, and it will be further involvement with the well-respected Toronto-based prog-rock outfit, the David Barrett Trio.
“And it’s more than just dabbling. On their next album I have a lot more vocal on it. I did a song called Coppermine with them first a few years ago after they opened for Saga at a show in Toronto, and David said they were thinking of doing more vocal stuff, because there were known more as an instrumental band, and I told him to send it my way. So he sent me the song Gone Tomorrow and I loved it. I got back to him immediately and said I’ve got a melody and everything ready. And what it also did was give me a chance to work with producer Terry Brown [who produced all the Rush albums from their self-titled debut to 1982’s Signals] which was a freaking blast. I’d never worked with him before and I only got to meet him very briefly a very long time ago. It was so cool; he is great to work with. So The David Barrett Trio featuring moi is a reality,” he said, adding that there won’t be any shows with Barrett as he wants 2017 to be all about Saga.
“We could probably have fit some shows in this year, but I don’t really want to because I don’t want to confuse the market at this point. I think it’s really unfair to do anything outside of Saga.”
Like the rock and roll warriors that they are, Sadler, the Crichton lads, Gilmour and Thorne are going out on their proverbial shields, throwing all their energy, love, passion and talent into one last go-round. In his typically thoughtful way, Sadler summed up, in a nutshell, what this final tour represents to Saga, the band’s legacy and it’s legions of fans on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
“It’s a transition, and it’s one we’re doing collectively. There are no hard feelings whatsoever. We are going to ride off into the sunset, knowing that we are playing as good as we ever have, we’re having as much fun, if not more fun, than we’ve ever had and we know we couldn’t be prouder of the legacy of music and friendships and good times that we’re leaving behind. It’s been remarkable.”
For more information, visit http://www.sagaontour.ca.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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