Please welcome Saigon Kick with special guest Jeff Scott Soto to the roster. – Glenn
A message from the band:
Jason Bieler & Phil Varone, with much vim and vigor, proudly announce their appearance at the legendary ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta! They will be celebrating 30+ years of assorted Saigon Kick music. (While this is neither a farewell show nor a reunion, if you know anything about Saigon Kick… there’s a solid 74–78.4% chance this will never happen again.)
Phil & Jason represent 50% of the original Saigon Kick lineup, which, in some cases, is 100% more original members than those other legacy bands are touring with. Actually, since this is a partial celebration of the Water album—and by then, SK was a three-piece—you’re technically getting 66.6% of that lineup. So let’s just round up and call it 75%.
Both Jason and Phil are confident they will be operating at no less than 95% capacity (of their collective 50% share) but guarantee a rock-solid 85% for 100% of this gig. Please note that they both believe they are currently performing at their highest levels, so, conservatively speaking, they estimate they’ll be at least 30% better than when you last saw them. If you’ve never seen them, you’ll have to do your own math.
This show is made even more special by the addition of legendary vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, who technically did sing backup on the first Saigon Kick album (which he was never paid for… so don’t bring it up). And it doesn’t get more prog than singing for Genesis! …Wait, I’ve just been informed he never sang for Genesis—which, in itself, is a small miracle. However, he did impressively yodel for Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Journey, and Yngwie Malmsteen, whom you may know from his shredding hit Don’t Stop Believin’. We are in desperate need of a fact-checker.
Which brings us to Stephen Gibb… We could mention he played with Zakk Wylde and Crowbar, but then we’d sound like name-droppers. Stephen was part of the Saigon Kick reunion shows 7–10 years ago, so while he’s not an OG 1991 “original,” if your first SK show was in Chicago in 2015, he was an original to you. Although Phil wasn’t there… but Jonathan Mover was… even though he never played on any SK albums… but he did play with Aretha Franklin. But we digress.
As we’ve clearly stated, this is not a reunion. It’s more of a special evening celebrating the music of Saigon Kick, and probably our only 2025 appearance—not because we don’t have offers to do more, but because we generally don’t like spending time with each other. Think of it as a sizable and assorted gaggle of Saigon Kick members (and non-members, depending on your vantage point) performing the music of Saigon Kick as a tribute to themselves.
Ironically, this will also mark the first-ever performance of Jeff Scott Soto fronting Saigon Kick. We can only hope we’ll all be playing the same songs at the same time. Honestly, it’s just too soon to tell.
