40 Years Later
I went to my first real concert on October 23, 1986. I went with my Uncle. It was Triumph at the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, MA. It had been rescheduled from an earlier dateā¦ I donāt remember what the original date was. I heard that guitarist/vocalist Rik Emmett fell down a flight of stairs while getting off of a plane and screwed up his knee so they had to postpone a couple of dates while he recovered. I donāt know if thatās true or not, itās just what I heard.
I was 15 back then and early in my sophomore year of high school. I was a big Triumph fan, but maybe not that big a fan. Certainly not as big a fan as I was of the other three-piece band from Toronto, Rush. Still, Thunder Seven, Allied Forces, and Just a Game were A-List albums in my book. Never Surrender and The Sport of Kings were both really good too. They were touring to support Sport of Kings when I saw them that night, and a couple of years later my first real band would cover a song from that record, Tears in the Rain. It often went over surprisingly well when we played it, even though the guys in the band were probably the only people in the room who were familiar with it. I wonder if anyone thought weād written it? Probably not. It was WAY better than our handful of original tunes. I mean, WAY better.
I didnāt know it at the time but Triumph was just about reaching the point where they were falling apart. I recently read Rik Emmettās memoir and he mentions that the first nail in the bandās coffin happened during the recording of Sport of Kings. They had planned to record a song written by an outside writer, a groovy little ballad called Just One Night. It was expected to be the albumās big single and the band had decided that drummer/vocalist Gil Moore would sing it. The guy who was originally hired to produce the record had spoken privately to Rik Emmett and said he should be singing that song instead of Moore and he wanted Emmett to break the news. Emmett did, on an airplane flying home to Toronto, and I guess Moore lost his shit (probably very politely, given that they are good Canadian boys after all) and that was the first step toward everything falling apart. It took a couple of years but eventually, in ā88, Emmett quit.
Moore and bassist/keyboardist Mike Levine eventually tired to bring it back from the dead. They hired guitarist Phil X, who these days is best known as Bon Joviās lead guitarist, and made one more record. I heard a song or two on the radio and it was pretty good, but not good enough to really reignite my interest. I had high hopes for Rik Emmett as a solo artist but his first record was a glossy poppy disappointment and that was that for me.
Fast forward to a few months ago and out of nowhere Triumph announced a 50th anniversary reunion tour. Rock and Roll Machine Reloaded (Rock and Roll Machine was the name of their second record in Canada and their first in the US). I think the reloaded part of the tourās name sort of points to some lineup changes. Early on they reported to us that Mike Levine would not be playing at every show. He had a medical issue to deal with (something wrong with his hand, I think?) and he would join the band onstage whenever he felt up to it. Iām pretty sure the tour ends next week and the total number of appearances heās made is equal to zero. Thatās disappointing.
Due to that, a second bass player, Todd Kerns, was added to the lineup. Additionally, Phil X would also join them. He wasnāt a member 50 years ago, but he was a member in the 90ās. That seems fitting. When I saw them in ā86 they did have a second guitarist on stage with them. His name was Rickā¦ something. I forget. I do remember finding him a little annoying. Like, I wanted to see the trio. I was okay with the extra guy but maybe he could have stayed off to the side out of the way. I was an asshole. Sorry. As if two extra musicians werenāt enough, Gil Moore made it clear that he wanted to come out from behind the drums and sing a couple of songs from the front of the stage. That requires a second drummer. Brent Fitz was added. Heās a keyboard player as well so I guess heāll also be covering some of Mike Levineās parts.
So this Toronto trio is now a group of five or six (if Levine appears). I guess everyone sings so the vocal harmonies are going to be denser than they used to be. Also, Moore and Emmett are old now, both in their 70ās. Their vocal ranges are nowhere near what they used to be (especially Emmett, whose near-soprano days are long over) so the ānewā guys are going to be singing lead on a some of the songs. That isā¦ troubling to me. That sort of makes me fear that this is going to be a tribute band that just happens to have two original members. I donāt know how I feel about that, but I am choosing to ignore it and just enjoy having this long lost band back again.
When the tour was announced, the final show was scheduled for June 6th in Boston and it sold out instantly. I tried to get a ticket but no luck. A couple of days after they went on sale I went to ticketbastardās site just to see how it looked and there was a show on June 4th with almost no tickets sold. Huh? I Googled and sure enough they had booked a second Boston show and somehow didnāt really announce it. I grabbed a ticket in the back. I donāt want to say a cheap seatā¦ how about a less crushingly expensive seat.
Now here we are on June 4th and I am psyching myself up to go experience the Rock and Roll Machine in person for the first time in almost 40 years. Iām flying solo for this one. I didnāt want to subject anyone else to the 80ās of it all. I checked the venueās camera policy and point and shoots are acceptable, so I am totally bringing one. Weāll see how it holds up to the lighting and the distance. I expect lots of blurry, shaky messes. Doors open at 7:00 and the show is supposed to start at 8:00. The opening act is April Wine. Iāve heard of them but I donāt think Iāve ever heard a single note. I know they are another Canadian band so I expect them to be very polite and I will be equally polite as I wait for the headliner.
My Uncle passed away a long time ago. Heāll be with me in spirit though. Iāll be thinking of him. Especially if Rik plays the acoustic solo from the Thunder Seven record, Midsummerās Daydream. Uncle Johnny was very impressed with that one.
Happy 50th anniversary to the first band I ever saw live. Hereās hoping for a good time at the old rock and roll show.
PS: I tried to find the set list from October 23, 1986. I failed. I did, however, find the set list from October 24, 1986. It is probably the same, and from what I remember it lines up.
- Tears in the Rain
- Somebodyās Out There
- Allied Forces
- Lay It on the Line
- Midsummerās Daydream
- Follow Your Heart
- Drum Solo
- Take a Stand
- Magic Power
- Rock & Roll Machine
- Guitar Solo
- Spellbound
- Rocky Mountain Way
- Fight the Good Fight
If there was a difference, my show might have swapped the last two songs. I remember their Joe Walsh cover closing the encore, but maybe it closed the set and Fight the Good Fight (by far their best songā¦ like by astronomical units) was the encore? Who can say.
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