- 7 weeks ago
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00:00I think there's going to be a level of curiosity.
00:03Are they going to drop dead when they're trying to actually make this happen?
00:07Will the flashpots go off and scare them that they're just going to keel over?
00:11And this is a chance for your kids and your relatives to see you do what you love.
00:15Well, I just think it's free roadies.
00:17I mean, I don't really care what they want.
00:19Rock, metal, frog, and everything in between.
00:23Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with Meltdown.
00:26Don't forget to follow the audio-only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms.
00:31And now, it's time for today's conversation.
00:34Here's Meltdown.
00:36Man, what a thrill to talk to all of you guys.
00:39Good to see you.
00:41It's always good to be said.
00:43I was thinking to myself, I'm like, why would Triumph want to tour in 2025?
00:49And then as I was telling Gil and Mike, Rick, before you got on,
00:52I drove through your country the other day, and I drove through Toronto,
00:55and there was 27 lanes of traffic on a Sunday afternoon that were backed up.
00:59So, you guys just want to leave Toronto.
01:00I get it.
01:02You've got the perfect answer.
01:08But seriously, why are you guys going back out on tour?
01:11I have a couple ideas, of course.
01:14I mean, obviously, Rush.
01:16I don't know if that played anything into it.
01:18And, you know, Rick, you've had some health issues in the past.
01:21Maybe things, you know, maybe changed in your mind a little bit.
01:24Why don't you guys start there?
01:25It's an obvious question, obviously.
01:26My wife just wanted to get me out of the house, you know, and get rid of me.
01:31And I think maybe she's hoping that as I physically try to prepare for, you know,
01:36playing a 90-minute show, I don't know.
01:38How many we got, like 24 in 60 days?
01:41I think she's maybe hoping it'll kill me.
01:43And then, you know, I think we all had to sort of bow to the ambition and desire of Gil Moore,
01:57who wanted to get the rock and roll machine back up on the road so that he could mount some sort of show thing
02:05that only he can imagine and that Mike and I just go, oh, God, what are we getting ourselves into?
02:13Yeah, Gil, you were the one back in the day, right, with all the lights and everything.
02:16You were the mastermind behind all the stagecraft.
02:19I'll take one for the team for that, yeah.
02:23I don't know.
02:24I was always, I was always felt better behind the scenes, to be honest.
02:29I always liked the technology and the, you know, the big spectacle and all that.
02:36But I mean, I think we tried to use the stage, you know, in a way that we really enhanced the music.
02:43And I, you know, what I see now on a lot of tours, I'm seeing a lot of flashing, you know, kind of gratuitous,
02:51just, you know, flotsam and jessam, you know, effects and stuff.
02:56And that's not the intent here.
02:58Like, what we're really trying to do is create a, you know, tell the story of triumph from the early days to the present
03:06and really trace the interest that our fans have had that's gone on for years and now decades
03:14to become what they tell us, so how they own the songs, how they have been impacted by the lyrics.
03:23And we've noticed that in that feedback that it's all about kind of the positivity in some of our songs,
03:30uplifting messages within the, you know, the Never Surrenders and the Hold On To Your Dreams kind of content
03:37that was in the lyrics.
03:40So hopefully the show will, you know, add another dimension to that, I'll say.
03:46And not just be, you know, a bunch of flashing nonsense.
03:50It's going to be something that's very, very well crafted.
03:54I've been working on it for about six years with our back-in-the-day lighting director, Paul Dexter,
04:01who's really kind of a genius in this area.
04:05So we're going to try to bring that to the stage and really have a show that people will never forget.
04:11That's what we're trying to do.
04:12Now, when I've talked with you guys in the past, it always seemed like, yeah,
04:15there wasn't a chance that you guys would go back out on tour and whatnot.
04:18So, I mean, when did the impetus for putting a tour back together, you just said something about six years ago,
04:23but did you guys see, like, maybe the success of, you know, some of the stuff you've done,
04:29like the documentary and maybe the tribute album and maybe Rush putting things back together and go,
04:34hmm, we should try this again.
04:36Mike, I'll let you start.
04:37The doc and the tribute record certainly were, I guess, slight impetuses, if that's a word,
04:49for us to do more things.
04:54I think the strongest impetus was the fact that Rogers Communications,
05:01which owns the Maple Leafs and the Blue Jays and the cable networks and stuff,
05:06used Lane on the Line in a TV commercial throughout all the Stanley Cup playoffs.
05:12It was like a hit record.
05:15And people were rediscovering Triumph, including brand new fans.
05:20And, you know, you couldn't go anywhere without somebody singing the song behind you.
05:27You know, they'd go, oh, there's a guy from Triumph.
05:29Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, lay it on the line.
05:31And so that's kind of, you know, had some influence.
05:37And Live Nation started to talk to us about maybe doing something.
05:42And as far as Rush was concerned, you know,
05:46they contemplated their return a long time ago.
05:51And we didn't even know about it while we were talking about what we were going to do.
05:56And so it just kind of went up with me, sat down and talked it out and said,
06:03okay, let's toss the coin and do it.
06:07And Rick, Mike just said something that's interesting.
06:09It's like, you know, there is a whole generation of fans that never got to see Triumph.
06:13And I was thinking back, and I'm not sure if I ever saw Triumph, and I'm old.
06:16But there was, you know, it was a long time ago.
06:18I think I saw the incarnation with Phil once, but not, of course, the original band.
06:23And, but Rick, talk about, you know, all these fans, these Canadian fans and American fans
06:27that are going to get a chance to see all three of you guys back on stage again.
06:32Well, you know, I think that for me, the energy, we're not just going to do this on our own.
06:41First of all, we're going to have three other musicians join us.
06:43And I think that that's going to make it so that it's not just a good old Triumph that's, you know,
06:49trying to see if they can survive this thing.
06:53It's going to be a new thing.
06:54And there's an energy to that that excites me and makes me want to be involved and make it happen, you know.
07:01But, I mean, Gil pretty much touched on it, that there's these folks that it was the soundtrack of their lives.
07:07And now they're bringing their kids and those kids have, there's grandkids involved in this now, you know.
07:13So, yes, we're old.
07:15You know, there's no question that, you know, there, I think there's going to be a level of curiosity.
07:21Are they going to drop dead when they're trying to actually make this happen?
07:25You know, will the flashpots go off and scare them that they're just going to keel over?
07:30But I think, I feel safe.
07:33Like, the whole, the thing that Mike mentioned about Rodgers and the High, and we played out in Edmonton.
07:39Gil and I went out there.
07:40Mike didn't make it, but we went out there and it felt like it was fun.
07:47And I think at the bottom of it, all of this stuff that we're talking about, the songs and all the big show
07:54and all the nostalgia of the three of us getting back together, really, the bottom line has to be, well, yeah, but is it going to be fun?
08:02Is this going to, you know?
08:04And I think that's something that translates to the audience.
08:06I think they get a sense of, look at these guys.
08:09They're just having the time of their lives.
08:11Yes, they're very old lives.
08:13They're in their seventh decade, eighth decade of life.
08:18You know, wow.
08:19You know, this is, but, you know, I mean, if we're not going to have fun with that, what's the point?
08:25You know, so.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Gil, you think you're going to have fun on tour?
08:29Oh, no doubt about it.
08:30You know, this is a real good excuse to get, you know, back in the gym and, you know, get all paradiddled up.
08:40You know, I think it's going to be, the most fun for me is going to be my kids and my wife and, I guess, you know, folks here at Metalworks that are just, did you really play in Triumph or did you just make up that story about yourself?
08:56So, it's going to be all paradiddled up.
09:03I love all paradiddled up.
09:04I think that should be right in the bio.
09:08I'm getting all paradiddled up.
09:11Yeah, that's great.
09:12So, I never thought about that.
09:13So, when was the last time you guys actually played?
09:15I mean, was the last tour you guys did in 1998, but when was the last time you all played?
09:19We're on the same stage together.
09:22The documentary.
09:25Oh, yeah.
09:25Yeah.
09:25Yeah, we played three songs for the fans that were lucky enough or unlucky enough to attend the event.
09:36But, yeah, it was, and that was a very emotional evening, actually, for all of us, the fans and the band.
09:45Mikey cried.
09:47Yeah.
09:47Good thought.
09:49Mike, Mikey had tears rolling down his cheek.
09:52Good thought.
09:52That was you.
09:53He hadn't cried that much since he saw the Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup, right?
09:59Oh, my God.
10:00I did see that.
10:01Wow.
10:02I do remember that.
10:04I was in, I think I was in grade nine in high school.
10:08But, you know, Gil just touched on something, too.
10:10It's like, you know, not only the generation of fans, but, you know, we all do things for our kids.
10:14And this is a chance for your kids and your relatives to see you do what you love and see what and do what you what made you happy.
10:22Well, I just think it's free roadies.
10:24I mean, I don't really care what they want.
10:25You know, keep labor.
10:28They're going to work for you, eh?
10:30I'm joking.
10:32My wife will hit me with a rolling pin for saying that.
10:37Well, it's going to be a family celebration.
10:39I'm sure all around, you know, we're going to have a blast.
10:43And, you know, what could be more what could be more fun?
10:46When we did Sweden and Rocklahoma in 2008, it was also kind of partially for the kids or a lot for the families, I'll say.
10:56And but, you know, that was a long time ago.
10:58And, you know, some of them were much younger.
11:00And so this is going to be this can be really something to be a big party backstage.
11:04That's for sure.
11:05When they're there.
11:06I got five grandkids.
11:09So, yeah, the scrollers.
11:12They've they've never seen me do my rock star impression.
11:15So it'll be fun.
11:18Listen, I'm also going to mention this, you know, since, you know, how often do I get to do these kinds of interviews?
11:24I have Godin is making me a new guitar.
11:26And it's like I have a guitar that I already really, really love.
11:30And it's a model that I like to play.
11:32And I think it's appropriate for triumph.
11:34But this one, it's going to be white and black.
11:37And so the guys at Godin are calling it the Stormtrooper.
11:41So I'm going to get to have the Stormtrooper on stage.
11:44And I am really looking forward to that.
11:46That's a self-indulgent thing.
11:47But I thought I should mention it.
11:49That's a good thing to mention.
11:50So, Rick, you talked about, you know, bringing Todd Kearns and Phil X and Brett Fitz out there with you.
11:55What exactly do you guys have this all planned out as to how this is going to work?
11:59You said you're going to be doing some new cool things.
12:02Yeah.
12:02Well, I mean, we made it through three songs out there in Edmonton.
12:06So there's a, you know, there's a little bit of a spine to build from.
12:09Of course, that wasn't with any production.
12:12We were just playing out, you know, it was all these people that were outside the arena.
12:15And it looked like a holding pen.
12:17You know, they were going crazy and it was fun, but it was like an outdoor show.
12:23What we're planning here is a much more intense, multi-leveled, multimedia, you know, Gills got, I don't know, DMX or something.
12:34It's like there's going to be screens that are doing things at the same time that we're playing.
12:40Uh, and, uh, I think there's going to be, um, like, you know, emergency medical people on standby.
12:47I keep going back to the same joke.
12:49I'm sorry.
12:50Uh, anyhow, like, uh, we, we've got a lot of work ahead of us because there will be, uh, uh, an intense period of, of trying to figure out what the script is for this thing.
13:01Then you get to the point where it's like, well, now we're going to have to go into the studio and the six of us are going to have to be bashing away for a while.
13:08Then we're going to have to go into an arena somewhere and set this thing up because it's, it's a massive thing.
13:14The rigging is, you know, what is it, Gil, 40 foot clearance or something?
13:1944, 50 points.
13:21Yeah.
13:21So there you go.
13:22You know, the technical, I, I just go, Oh, look at those lights up there.
13:26I hope they don't fall on you.
13:28So both the level extravagance, that's what I'm going to start calling it.
13:33All right.
13:34Fair enough.
13:35And, and I mean, this is probably too early to ask, but is this going to be it for triumph?
13:39Is this the final tour?
13:43Here's what's going to happen.
13:49If it, uh, if the tickets go on sale and it's kind of stiffened, then, you know, we may not even make it up for these shows.
13:57If they go on sale and it does pretty good, you know, obviously there's going to be people like Live Nation and folks that are going to be going, Hey, you want to do some more?
14:06At which point there will be discussions between the three of us as to, you know, how long this might, uh, infringe upon my desire to want to be going on holidays.
14:18And, you know, um, I, I will say this though, um, last night I was, uh, practicing guitar and I looked at my watch and it was 1230 at night.
14:29I usually go to bed by like 1030, you know, at that time.
14:34So I thought, well, this is not so bad really.
14:37Is it like sitting up and playing guitar until all hours?
14:41So, uh, you know, I think that is a harbinger of that.
14:46There might be a future here.
14:48I don't know how it'll compartmentalize and work out, but yeah, I think, uh, I, it could extend.
14:55It seems like it's fun so far.
14:57And this might be another ridiculous question, but I'm going to ask it anyways, because I'd like to ask ridiculous questions, but you think that putting yourself out on this tour and getting yourself back into the spotlight, um, do you think the rock and roll hall of fame should take note?
15:13That's up to the fans.
15:15You know, it's not really up to us.
15:18Everybody I know that has anything to do with that thinks it's a total waste of time.
15:23I mean, it's, uh, it's a fraudulent, um, bullshit kind of thing like FIFA, you know, the world cup people.
15:30It's all scam land.
15:33So, um, oh, would it be cool?
15:35Sure.
15:36But, um, do I go to sleep at night even thinking about it?
15:39Not a chance.
15:41Right.
15:41Yeah.
15:41I figured that much.
15:42And, you know, I couldn't believe that you guys just got in the Canadian songwriters hall of fame.
15:46What was the holdup on that?
15:50They couldn't find our addresses word in the phone book.
15:53There is an interesting thing about Canada, uh, which, um, you know, I don't know if this caused any kind of delay or not, but I think Canadians in general, the whole thing of songwriting came out of the world of, of Hank Snow.
16:12And, and then, you know, along came Gordie Lightfoot and, and Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.
16:19And, and so there's a, the songwritery thing.
16:21They look at a band like Triumph, which is larger than life and go, that's not songwriting.
16:27That's showbiz.
16:28And so then I think there's a little bit of a sort of, well, we don't want to go there.
16:32Like, let's, let's make sure we honor the people that are, you know, um, the crunchy granola kinds of folks, you know?
16:41Um, and I, I, I get that, you know, I mean, I'm as proud of that as a, as a Canadian songwriter as I am of anything.
16:49But, uh, I think it was a thing where it finally sort of got to the point, especially with the, you know, lay it on the line on the hockey.
16:57It was like a connection was being made there where Canada was going, Hey, you know, come on, let's get off the schneid here and make this happen.
17:07And so, yeah, I talked about this on the radio.
17:10I'm like, that's like 30 years too late, as far as I'm concerned.
17:14Yeah.
17:14Well, you know, wait, we're still here and we're, we're still around.
17:19So it was, it was lovely to have our families there.
17:22And, and, uh, listen, oh, a friend of mine, Ian Thomas, he's been around forever too.
17:27And he was getting inducted the same night and I got to sit with him and sing a song and, and, you know, his family was right beside mine.
17:34And so that kind of thing, I go, well, you know, when it happens, it happens and it's lovely.
17:38And, you know, why carp about how long it took or, you know, who cares?
17:45You know, I just thought it was a way too late.
17:47Hey, Gil, since you're so tied up in all the, uh, all the stage theatrics and some of the stuff that's going on.
17:52I just saw the band avatar not that long ago.
17:55So, and, uh, they did some really cool things on stage I'd never seen before.
17:58Are you bringing anything that maybe might wow the crowd as far as a different kind of elements that you've seen recently?
18:04Yeah.
18:05I mean, for all the, for all the scary stuff that, that AI is bringing on, you know, that, that, uh, bad actors get their hands on it.
18:13It's a real great creative tool, um, for things that, you know, that we're doing.
18:17So I know Paul and his, uh, and his team, like they're, they're using, uh, some AI tricks on, uh, some of the things for the show, you know, until we see it, you know, in, in, in, in the big venue like this and, you know, see what it actually blows up.
18:33Like it's, it's hard to say, uh, you know, how it'll, how it'll impact the show, but yeah, there's definitely some of that.
18:40And again, you know, we're not going to try to do things that are just gags for the sake of gags.
18:46It's, it's more like we want to tell the story visually that, you know, the songs, the lyrics of the songs are talking about and, and the, the, you know, the trajectory of the band from being, you know, three, three young knuckleheads from Canada that, you know, strapped on guitars and took on the world.
19:05And, you know, where it's, where it's gone to, which none of us could ever have imagined.
19:11Um, so that's, uh, yeah, that, that, that, those kinds of tools that, uh, not being the only one, but that, that's one of the things that'll, that'll, that'll help with the creative process is things we couldn't have done before that we can do now.
19:24So hopefully going to be cool.
19:26And speaking of Canada, I know you guys are starting this tour out in Canada.
19:30Was there a reasoning behind that or just the way the logistics worked out?
19:33No one else would take us.
19:34Fair enough.
19:38Do you remember back in 2000 and something, we went to Sweden to play a gig and it was like, Canadians were going like, why would you do that?
19:46Why wouldn't you just play here in your own backyard?
19:48And it was like, no, no, we want to go somewhere in case it's, it screws up and it's bad.
19:53We, we want to be on the other side of the planet so that, you know, no one will see this happen.
19:58Then we came back and we played Rock, La Homa and Canada was going, well, why didn't you come to Canada?
20:03You know, so I think, you know, we, this though is, is Sue really, isn't it?
20:08Because I mean, we, this is when you talk about the history of triumph.
20:11Well, the first thing we did when we started playing is you went to Northern Ontario and we, and we played, you know, through the North along Highway 17.
20:19And that was where we sort of honed our chops.
20:23So it's kind of like going back to the scene of the crime.
20:26And then we come right back to Toronto, which is our hometown and play the big rink.
20:31So I guess that's a serious answer.
20:34Yeah.
20:34Well, you'll be down here in Detroit as long as you can get through the 401, I suppose.
20:41Oh, we'll be in Detroit.
20:43I'm going to get stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel again.
20:45And I got to come back to that scene of that crime, the Lincoln Tunnel.
20:49Where's that?
20:51Well, you should know it's in Detroit.
20:53That they call the tunnel.
20:55I never did.
20:55Never heard called the Lincoln Tunnel.
20:57Maybe they changed the name of it.
20:58They changed the name of buildings.
20:59You know, I know.
21:00I tried riding my Harley Davidson through there once and they turned me around and said,
21:03I couldn't do that.
21:04So for whatever reason, but I'll tell you what up on Wikipedia after the interview.
21:12How's that?
21:12I'm going to have to.
21:13I might have to edit this whole part.
21:15Yeah.
21:16The Lincoln Tunnel might turn out to be something that goes into Washington or into maybe I got
21:23the wrong tunnel.
21:24It sounds very New York to me.
21:25It's across from Jersey.
21:27The wrong tunnel.
21:28I was thinking New York myself.
21:30You know, that's right here and find out.
21:33The thing is, here we call it the Windsor Tunnel.
21:37You know, like the Windsor Tunnel.
21:38Oh, you got stuck in both tunnels.
21:40I don't know.
21:42Yeah.
21:42Rick, you've been over here with baseball games and stuff.
21:44I remember.
21:45Oh, yeah.
21:45Yeah.
21:45But we would go to the bridge that was up Sarnia.
21:48You know.
21:49Yeah.
21:49That one and cross there, which is a good crossing point, really.
21:54You know, it was a little easier than having to do the Ambassador Bridge or the tunnel.
21:59So I can't remember the name of the bridge, though.
22:01It's up in the Rainbow Bridge or the Lincoln Bridge.
22:04No, the Rainbow Bridge goes into New York.
22:06The Lincoln.
22:07Yeah, yeah.
22:07The Water Bridge goes into Michigan.
22:09Yeah.
22:10The Water Bridge.
22:11That's it.
22:13That's it.
22:15I told you guys about my trip before we started.
22:18I went to Maine.
22:19And I've never been through customs.
22:21It looked like they wanted to take my order.
22:23There was like three people in line.
22:25And there was like I had to open up my passenger window and talk to the woman.
22:28There was like nobody there.
22:29Yeah.
22:30I once played a gig, a New Year's gig across it, just across the border.
22:35You know, it was like a company thing.
22:37And it was like we played, you know, Happy New Year.
22:39And we got in the car.
22:40We were me and Dave Dunlop.
22:42We're driving back.
22:42And we pulled up to Nanny Customs and it was like 12, 15, you know, after midnight.
22:48And there was no one.
22:50Like it was completely empty.
22:52And the guy at the booth was going, hey, Happy New Year.
22:57It was like he was trying to make it last because there was no one there.
23:01And we're going, yeah, because we just wanted to hightail it out, you know.
23:05Anyhow, that was funny.
23:06Like I've never pulled up to customs when there's no one.
23:10It was nuts.
23:10Yeah.
23:11Did he recognize you?
23:14Those things usually do happen.
23:16Yes.
23:16I hate to act like I'm a, you know, rock star.
23:20But yes.
23:20Actually, a lot of times what happens is you pull up and they go, hey, are you the guy in
23:24traffic?
23:25Oh, yeah.
23:25They go, so do you know Gilmore?
23:29Well, my friends that work at the border in Canada say Ty Domi would come across all
23:33the time and actually bring eight by tens.
23:35And he would sign them for the guys.
23:38Oh, there you go.
23:39And we don't, you don't need to go into stories about Bob Probert trying to cross the border.
23:43We all know what happened there.
23:44But well, I'll tell you what, as a kid who grew up in Buffalo and spent the last 30 years
23:49on WRF here in Detroit, it's really an honor and a pleasure to talk to you guys.
23:52I'm so glad you guys are back.
23:54You got these shows coming up here.
23:55The Rock and Roll Machine Reloaded.
23:57And tickets go on sale this coming Friday.
23:59I think they have some pre-sale stuff going on as well.
24:01We'll point everybody in that direction as well.
24:03But congratulations on your success.
24:05And I think I speak for many rock and roll fans.
24:08We're happy that you guys are back.
24:10Great.
24:10Thanks.
24:11Happy to be back.
24:12Yeah.
24:12Thanks a lot, Melndown.
24:14We're happy to be back, too.
24:16The bus is officially out of the snowbank.
24:19We're all paradiddled up.
24:22There it is.
24:23Okay.
24:24All right.
24:25We'll stop right there.
24:26Thank you guys so much.
24:27I appreciate it.
24:28Okay.
24:29Okay, man.
24:31Bye-bye.
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