SAGA: Band Of The Month – July 2012

July 30 2012 – As July 2012 has come and gone we reflect on our stories this month. While June 2012 was dominated by our NXNE coverage, July focused on one band and as such we are declaring  SAGA the Band of the Month for July 2012 (Ed. Note: the band is pronounced SAW-GA and NOT SAA-GA as pointed out by the band’s rabid fans on SAGA’s official Facebook group).

What qualified Sage for that honor you may ask? Well, Saga released their 20th studio album this month entitled 20/20. That record has given the band renewed commercial success. Immediately upon its release it hit number 13 on the record charts for Germany (the highest Saga has been since the mid 80’s). Even more significant is that 20/20 was the number 1 album in the band’s home country of Canada on Amazon.ca Hard Rock & Metal charts, number 1 on their Progressive Rock charts, number 1 on the Canadian Classic Rock charts (ahead of our other favorite Canadian band aka Rush), and hit number 1 on the overall music charts (that is huge folks!!).  Although the band’s older songs are a staple in Canadian Rock radio it is rare to hear any of their newer stuff on the radio. Strange but that’s the way the business goes I guess. Saga is a band that has been around since 1977 (35 years for the mathematically challenged), has sold over 8 million records and has one of the best overall rock records of all time in World’s Apart (1981). The band is from the Toronto area, and is part of a mind blowing rock legacy this city has produced (bands such as Rush, Neil Young, Triumph, Max Webster, and up and comers TimeGiant come to mind).

Saga at Toronto’s Sound Academy

We started our intense focus on SAGA back in April as we were the first media outlet in the world to interview SAGA’s brand new drummer Mike Thorne (another Toronto homeboy!). Then in July we reviewed 20/20 and gave it a 4.5+ out of 5 rating which you can read here. We also sent out a team to cover the 20/20 CD Release Party concert in Toronto’s Sound Academy which you can check out here. Photos from that night can be seen on our Picasa album. If all that wasn’t enough we were able to interview keyboardist Jim Gilmour right before the aforementioned CD Release concert – that video interview can be viewed here. We are impressed with how courteous, professional, good humored, sincere, and could not have picked a better group of guys to achieve this renewed success in their professional and musical careers.  The following tweet from lead singer Michael Sadler speaks volumes – it took him 10 seconds to do but how many rock stars take the time to thank their fans after a show? Well done Mr. Sadler.

SAGA in Toronto

We leave you with a video we took at Saga’s show in Toronto on Sept 1 2011.