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Triumph are getting ready to go out on their second leg of their 50th Anniversary tour.  They will be making a stop at Rocket Arena on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving for a great rock and roll show.  We had a Zoom call with guitarist/singer Rik Emmett of the band to discuss the tour, his memories of Cleveland and 50 years of Triumph.  You can watch the full interview at the bottom of the article.

 

 

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Greg Drugan:  You are getting ready to go out on the second leg of the 50th Anniversary tour.  How did the run of the first leg of the tour go and how did it feel to get back up on stage with Gil Moore as Triumph?

 

Rik Emmett:  It was amazing.  It exceeded all expectations. Initially, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it. There was a certain amount of trepidation going in. Once it was up and running and we got about six weeks in, I was like “if you want to go out and do a second leg, I think I might be able to handle it.” I’ve had some health setbacks since, but I think I’m going to be fine. One of the best things was being able to experience this great band with these other guys.  Phil (X), and Brent (Fintz) and Todd (Kearns) and Gil. You know, when athletes retire they go “you know what I miss the most? I miss the clubhouse and hanging out with the guys  and playing cards.”  I’m looking forward to the bus rides and the meals we have together. The gigs are another level because now you get the audience. 

 

GD:  Triumph has now reached its 50th anniversary. When you look back at the band’s journey from its early days in Toronto to becoming an international rock act, what stands out most to you?

 

RE:  I think the greatest takeaway is that I wrote these songs and we made these records and somehow they have stood the test of time. Now you get to play and you see a dad bringing his son or a mom bringing her daughter. Or three generations with a grandfather and grandchildren! That’s a very satisfying feeling.  Back in the day when we were doing it, there were critics in daily newspapers saying “This is awful. You are all sizzle and no steak.”  But you can see back here (points), I’m in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame. There are things that have happened along the way where you kinda go, “I think we were doing something right.” 

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GD:  When you first announced your tour, I was surprised that Cleveland didn’t make the first leg of the tour, but you’ve added us on the second leg.  What do you remember about performing in Cleveland over the years?

 

RE:  Oh, man!  I’ve played the Agora. Cleveland, man!  On my own, I’ve gone back there and played clubs after Triumph.  We’re talking about the place that has the Hall of Fame and the Spinal Tap jokes, “Hello Cleveland!” Plus Drew Carey. It’s on the map. I’m a Toronto guy so Cleveland is not that far away and there’s always been the thing between the Blue Jays and the Indians. Dave Steib was a pal of mine and he threw a no-hitter in Cleveland. Somewhere I have a ticket stub from that game autographed by Dave. I have a soft spot in my heart for it.  It’s on the lake, so it’s like Toronto and Chicago.  All of the Great Lake cities, Detroit, were the places where Triumph broke. We would do radio concerts and we would do a deal and they would have a truck and we did two or three of them in Cleveland over the years.

 

GD:  Like the WMMS Coffee Break Concerts?

 

RE:  Yes, that kind of stuff. MMS was always kinda big about live rock and roll. It was kinda their thing.  Here’s what I remember about Cleveland  anecdotally, in order to break the market, was Jules Belkin the promoter there?

 

GD:  Yes, he was!

 

RE:  Belkin Productions. Jules said, “I’m not gonna have you come here and headline until you’ve done an opening act slot. You’re gonna come in here on New Year’s and open for Alice Cooper at the Richfield Coliseum.”  We hardly ever did opening act slots, but in order to break Cleveland, we had to do it.  As an opening act, you get this very narrow amount of stage.  Especially with Alice Cooper, he’s got guillotines and dolls and inflatable things. It’s a New Year’s show so everyone was ¾ in the bag before the things even started. I do remember that gig and going on to Alice’s bus and meeting the guys in the band and Alice and that was pretty cool. Cleveland!  Where Ric Emmett got to meet Alice Cooper for the first time! 

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GD:  That’s great!  Looking at songs such as “Lay It on the Line,” “Magic Power,” “Fight the Good Fight”  have remained staples on radio and fan favorites. Are there particular Triumph songs that have taken on a different meaning for you as you’ve gotten older?

 

RE:  I think songs do that no matter what the song is.  Even if you wrote a novelty song. Was it the Baha Men who did “Who Let The Dog’s Out?”  That’s going to be very different for them 40-50 years into their career.  Whoever the dog is gonna change in your mind. The idea of what “The Fight” is changes as you get older.  The magic power of music, there is something universal and eternal and never changing and yet, what music means to me has changed over the years. Playing in a band with Phil X and Todd Kearns and Brent Fitz, the arrangements of the songs, so they take on a new life.  So that’s a different thing. This is the beautiful thing about music, from night to night is different.  I think there’s things that exist in a song.  We’re up there playing “Lay It On The Line” and you get to the chorus and the audience is singing it louder than the band can perform it. I think what it boils down to is this is what music is, it’s this moment in time, now. This is a Friday night in Cleveland in November. I don’t know if it’s a Friday. 

 

GD:  It’s the day before Thanksgiving.

 

RE:  There you go! That’s the thing about music that I love.  It’s got that ephemeral, in the moment quality.  I’ve often said to college students, “you’re chasing something you can’t catch” because it’s this magic fairy dust that’s floating in the air.  It’s pretty nice to get to chase it. 

 

You look out into the audience, and say you’re starting “Magic Power” and everybody’s holding up their phones and they’re smiling but they are also crying. There’s this emotional thing that’s happening where it’s overwhelming. 

 

GD:  Triumph became known for its elaborate live productions, including lasers, lighting and other visual elements. Are you bringing that stuff back on this tour as well?

 

RE:  Yes. Gil Moore is on this tour.  If Gil Moore is out on the road, you can bet your butt that there’s going to be a large scale production things.  There were some things that we didn’t do on the first leg.  Pyro was kinda restrained and we didn’t even have lasers because we had all these screens doing this 3-Dish kind of stuff.  And a light system that was crazy. But we’re going to ramp it up!  There’s going to be lasers on this leg.  Anybody that came and saw Triumph back in the heyday that went “Oh my god, what a production.” You’re not going to be disappointed. You’re going to get your money’s worth.

 

GD:  Great!  Looking back at Triumph’s breakthrough years, was there a particular moment when you realized, “man, we’re a pretty big band now” or we’re bigger than we ever imagined?

 

RE:  There was always a kind of cockiness that Mike and Gil had about the band. To answer your question in a way I would like to answer it, I will tell you this. We had always kind of headlined smaller buildings in order to have people see Triumph be Triumph. It was kind of a struggle sometimes to sell tickets and to get known.  But we were absolutely always convinced that we were a headliner.  I think Mike and Gil alway felt that we had to have the big show, had to have the flamethrowers and the pyro in order to be Triumph. There was a summer, 1983 where we played up the bill on a lot of outdoor shows and we were making a lot of money to do it, but we were going on in daylight at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. It was just the three piece band playing all the songs. We had in our setlist, “Magic Power,” “Fight The Good Fight,” “Lay It On The Line.” If I sing it good and I play it good, it’s going to work. The other guys still weren’t sure.  That summer, we did the US Festival.  Here was this day with all these bands like Motley Crue and Judas Priest and Ozzy. We went out and did our thing and in the wake of it, everybody went, “wow, they kind of stole the show.” They made that day of the US Festival be about these Triumph songs. I think that was the turning point for the band. Not when we got off stage, but in the wake of it and theirs videos and now there’s videos all over YouTube. There’s this sense of that’s when Triumph came of age. I think there are watershed moments that happen in your life and you don’t even know that it’s happening when it’s happening. Then you look back on it and go “Huh, my life turned on that moment.” 

 

GD:  That’s awesome. Now, on the first leg of the tour Mike (Levine) didn’t play.  Is there a possibility that he makes some appearances on the second leg? Is he doing better, health wise?

 

RE:  He is doing better. He has been attending some Triumph meetings and he has been his old, irascible Mike Levine self. He’s got his mojo back, physically though, he hasn’t been able to be practicing. It’s not like he needs a cane or anything, but he’s a little unsteady on his feet from time to time.  So, no he’s not going to be out on the road with us. There’s a possibility that he might show up and sit at a keyboard for something.  He’s on the screens and we talk about him.  The spirit of Mike is a part of Triumph and will always be a part of Triumph. Can he physically be there, I don’t know.  Would Mike be able to handle the bus?  This tour, we’re starting in Grand Rapids and we’re all in the midwest but then we’re all they way over to Baltimore, were all the way down to Albuquerque, we’re all the way up to Seattle and Portland and we’re all the way down the west coast and we end in San Diego. It’s four weeks and we’re on the bus the whole time. He would never survive it and he would make it impossible for anybody else to survive it.  (laughs)

 

GD:  You mentioned, Phil, Brent and Todd, is it going to be the same three guys on this tour as well?

 

RE:  Yeah, for sure.  Gil and I will be tossing the football to them as often as we can. Boys, run with that! Do what you will.  They are a fantastic safety net and I just love the moments where choruses arrive and all three of them are singing harmonies.  Sometimes I stop singing so I can listen because it’s so good. It’s the best version of Triumph I’ve ever been in by far!

 

GD:  Wow!  Those are some big words.

 

RE:  It’s the truth.  I mean no disrespect to Gil and Mike because I love them like brothers. You got to be honest with your brothers and it was a really good idea to get these three guys. They’re really good.

 

GD:  And they are Canadian, right?

 

RE:  Yes!  That’s the other thing. You’re getting all of that nice Canadian attitude and humility.  They can be rock stars, true rock stars but they are so humble and easy to get along with. So yeah, the legacy is in good hands. 

 

GD:  You are going to be coming to Cleveland in November, what can fans expect from the show?

 

RE:  They’ll get to hear all the hits. There will be some surprises. Like I was saying about the harmony vocals, the tag of “Fight The Good Fight” we do a breakdown and we sing harmony vocals. It’s like the Eagles, “Seven Bridges Road.”  There’s some things that I’ve been able to do arrangement wise, I’ve taken advantage of that.  The screens will blow people away. That’s the thing about tours now is everybody’s got these screens that can do things and we’re no different.  We’ve got our feature length movies that are playing at the same time the band is performing. People are going to have to get used to the fact that I don’t have any hair. I’m going to be wearing hats.  I had this issue where I had this drug reaction where I don’t have eyebrows. Alopecia. I don’t know cosmetically, how I’ll deal with it.  Who knows, I might be in a fright wig. Who cares? I don’t feel bad. Physically, I feel good. The performances are going to be there. The energy will be there. Gil always surprises me. There’s moments where he comes down off the drum riser.  If you’re an old fan of Triumph, you might remember that Gil used to do a rap in the middle of the show. Now, he comes down two or three times in a row because we got Fitz.  He can play drums. So Gil can come out and run around and sing. That happens more than once during the show and it’s great!  You never know what to expect. It’s kinda like he’s channeling Sebastian Bach or Sammy Hagar. It’s great!

 

GD:  Awesome!  It seems like you’re excited to get back out on the road and we’re excited that you’re coming to Cleveland and we will pack Rocket Arena for you! 

 

RE:  Thanks, man!  That’s great and I can’t wait! 

 

GD:  Thanks, Rick!

 

RE:  Thanks, Greg! 

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Make sure you check out Triumph along with April Wine on November 25 at Rocket Arena.  Tickets start at $52 and can be purchased here.