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Even if Saga said their goodbyes towards the end of 2017, they still did select shows here and there. This lighter touring schedule finally brought them to Montreal on April 12th at Club Soda after a four-year hiatus and fans were anxiously waiting to see them again as they lined up in front of the venue.

It is no surprise that the Club Soda is pretty full when the band comes on stage with the songs “Careful Where You Step”, “On The Loose” and “How Long”. As usual, their unusual stage setup has new bass and keyboard player Dusty Chesterfield up front as Mike Thorne’s drum is sideways facing the two keyboards of Jim Gilmour and Michael Sadler at the back of the stage. Even if this is a seated concert, the fans are showing a lot energy and are singing along with Michael on every song. Fans are focused on the band members and follow all their movement as there are no projections on the backdrop to distract them. They really enjoyed The 13th Generation and clapped their hands during The Learning Tree. Michael is always very dynamic as he moves from his keyboard to the front of the stage on a regular basis. His voice is spot on, and he is hands down the focal point of the night. He leaves the stage to his fellow bandmates during the instrumental song Corkentellis and Ian Crichton does not really take advantage of the additional room that is available to him. But the crowd does not mind his lack of movement as fans are fixated on his guitar playing. The song “What's It Gonna Be?” is another crowd pleaser that serves as an introduction to Mike Thorne’s drum solo. He rapidly gets the crowd involved as he alternates between his normal drum and his electronic pads. Michael grabs the bass for the very enjoyable Humble Stance and once again gets the crowd singing very loudly. As good as this was, the best was to come as Jim took the vocals duties for “Scratching The Surface” before the band closed their set with “You’re Not Alone” and “Don’t Be Late”. They came back for the encore in front of a standing crowd with the songs “Wind Him Up”, “Tired World” and “The Flyer”.

As fans did not want the night to end they tried to get the band to play another song or two, but that was sadly all for tonight. The musicians were moved by their enthusiasm and were more than happy to meet each and everyone of them in the lobby of the Club Soda moments later. Talk about an awesome way to say goodbye to their fans!