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00:00How did you hold up throughout all the shows?
00:02You know what? It was a piece of cake.
00:03I thought, hey, I haven't done this for a long time.
00:06Maybe I'm going to choke my guts out.
00:08People were constantly saying to me, oh, it's just like getting on a bike.
00:10You know, and I thought, BS, it's not like getting on a bike.
00:13But it was a nothing burger.
00:16Rock, metal, frog, and everything in between.
00:20Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with Meltdown.
00:23Don't forget to follow the audio-only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms.
00:28And now, it's time for today's conversation.
00:31Here's Meltdown.
00:32Hey, Gil, how are you?
00:34I'm great, Meltdown. How are you doing?
00:36Good. So, two months exactly from today, I'm going to be in London.
00:40I want to see you guys play.
00:41I didn't see you guys when you were here in Detroit,
00:43playing the Canadian Life Place in London, Ontario.
00:45And there, I will buy a Triumph shirt because I looked through my vast amount of black T-shirts at
00:51my house,
00:52and all I could come up with was this, the Killer Dwarfs.
00:55So, I need a Triumph shirt.
00:57Not really.
00:58That's funny.
01:01So, anyways.
01:03Yeah, but the show coming up on December 19th, we'll talk about that.
01:06But, first of all, I asked Rick about, I don't know, a month or so ago,
01:09his thoughts on the tour this past summer.
01:12I'm sure you've answered this question a billion times,
01:14but just fill us in.
01:16What did you think about the tour?
01:19You know, it was the surprise of all surprises
01:21because, you know, there's so much anticipation when you haven't done it for so long,
01:25and you kind of look at, like, anything could happen.
01:28And yet, it was just like a well-oiled machine, you know?
01:32We, the first two shows were a little rough, you know, in terms of the band making mistakes and stuff
01:38down in Florida,
01:39and we weren't on our sound system or our lighting system because we played the hard rock casinos down there.
01:44So, that was a little tricky.
01:47But then the third show, you know, we came back up here and went to Sault Ste. Marie,
01:53played GFL Gardens, and the Metalworks PA showed up,
01:57and our big Phase III lighting system showed up.
02:00And it just all came together, that sound check.
02:03So, it was really, you know, it just went like this.
02:05It was like lifting off.
02:07Next show was the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto,
02:09which equated to TD Coliseum where two big arenas here.
02:12Got a little smoother each night, then we went across the border.
02:16And man, once we started down, you know, Chicago, St. Louis, KC, you know, all the way down into Texas,
02:21it's just, the band just kept doing this.
02:24It was like getting smoother, and, you know, the rhythms were oilier every night.
02:29You know, the guitar solos were tighter, the vocals were sweeter.
02:32Like, every aspect of it was just, from a musician's point of view,
02:37I'm not sure how much the audience can really tell.
02:39So, there's not much difference in the reaction.
02:42The reaction's been great, whether it was early or the last show or the first show.
02:46The reaction to the band's been fantastic, which is lovely.
02:50But we're very hard on ourselves backstage when we're, you know, talking about, you know,
02:55who did what and, you know, how to make it better for the next show and stuff.
02:58It's like, yeah, that's what musicians do.
03:00So, you bring your Metalworks rig with you.
03:03Is that the thing that you guys do?
03:05Yeah, it's a Metalworks PA that we're using on this tour.
03:09Yeah, Metalworks has a whole sound and lighting division.
03:10We do light, sound, stage, and video and stuff.
03:13In this case, we provided sound to the Reloaded tour,
03:17and it was pretty thump enough.
03:21I do say so myself.
03:23Now, you talked about the band becoming like a well-oiled machine.
03:27I guess you guys can rehearse and rehearse and rehearse until you're blue in the face.
03:30But once, you really can't tell until you really get on stage and do it, right?
03:35Yeah, it's something about the, you know, in rehearse, you can rehearse all you want,
03:39but there's no audience there.
03:40You know, you're in a warehouse.
03:43There's not the same, you know, effect of the sound system, the lighting system, the lasers.
03:50None of that stuff is there.
03:51That's part of it, right?
03:53The audience vibe is part of it.
03:56Like, when you look out and there's, you know, they're there and how they're responding and stuff.
04:00And, man, the response was so powerful from the audience.
04:04Like, they were just cheering from the beginning.
04:08Some people were crying.
04:09It was, like, wild, the emotion.
04:12And, of course, when we started the tour, you know, back to your first question,
04:16like, nobody knew what was going to happen.
04:17There was no social media because nothing had happened yet.
04:20But as soon as it started, the social media went boom, and then we knew that the response was really
04:28positive,
04:28and it was people were ecstatic.
04:32You know, you always get one or two haters, but, I mean, it was, like, 99%, you know, this is
04:38great.
04:38And so whether you go on YouTube or wherever people go for social media, you know, Instagram or wherever,
04:45you kind of see it all now, and you can see that the band is having a blast.
04:49The audience is having a blast.
04:50Basically, it was a love fest.
04:52And what I said before the tour, I said, get ready for the double-barreled shotgun of Rick Emmett and
04:57Phil Axe.
04:58I wasn't wrong about that.
04:59Those two guys come through like gangbusters.
05:03And, you know, Brent and I, like, once we got it dialed in, and it's cool.
05:07It took a while.
05:08I've never done double drummers.
05:09But when we go, two of us at the same time, it's like rhinoceros coming at you or elephants coming
05:16at you.
05:16It's so thunderous, you know.
05:18And then we split up, you know, because he's a great keyboard player, so Brent will play keyboards, and I
05:23just play the drums.
05:25Then we flip it again, and he plays drums, and I go out and sing lead vocals.
05:29And so there's this kind of to-and-fro kind of thing.
05:33And so we're either playing together, not playing together.
05:35One's taking the lead on drums.
05:37The other's taking the lead.
05:38So it's pretty cool from that point of view.
05:42And, you know, vocally, too, the way it gets thrown around.
05:45You know, like Phil just knocks the socks off Allied Forces when he sings that.
05:51I think it's either released just this week or it's coming out in another week or something like that.
05:55They're releasing from Scotiabank Arena.
05:58You know, they're releasing that track with Phil singing it.
06:02And, you know, it was great.
06:04I mean, we just thought he sang it on our tribute album.
06:08So that's how we made that decision, right?
06:10So I could have sang it, but it's like, yeah, Phil, you sing it.
06:14Like, he's a great singer.
06:15We wanted people to hear him singing.
06:17And that was the song that he just took ownership of.
06:20And, well, if it isn't out right now, Meltdown is coming out because I just saw that, you know, they
06:25sent up past us for, you know, a green light.
06:28So, yeah, watch out for Allied Forces with Phil X singing lead vocals.
06:33And you'll see what I mean.
06:35He just smokes it.
06:36Yeah, you guys just released something else, too, from 1985.
06:39It showed you down the Never Surrender Tour.
06:41But, yeah, speaking of singing and stuff, how did your voice hold up?
06:45How did you hold up throughout all the shows?
06:47You know what?
06:48It was a piece of cake.
06:49Like, this is where I was totally wrong.
06:52I was like, you know, well, I did my homework.
06:55So I'm going to the gym all the time.
06:57You know, I'm practicing drums all the time, practicing vocals all the time.
07:00But I thought, hey, I haven't done this for a long time.
07:04Maybe I'm going to choke my guts out.
07:06And, you know, so I'm scared.
07:08You know, I'm going to start leaking oil.
07:09I'm going to go off the guardrail before you know it.
07:12And it didn't happen.
07:13But, like, all I can say is, you know, just the buildup of the practice and people were
07:19constantly saying to me, oh, it's just like getting on a bike.
07:22You know, and I thought, BS, it's not like getting on a bike.
07:25This isn't what we're talking about here.
07:28But I guess it was either enough rehearsal or the confidence gradually increasing.
07:34Like, it was a nothing burger in the sense of being a challenge.
07:38It was like just getting on there and doing it.
07:42And also, I think the thing was, Meltdown, is like the work aesthetic of this band, right?
07:48So everybody is into making sure everyone gets enough sleep, everyone eats properly, you
07:53know, no drinking, you know, no smoking, no anything.
07:57So just laughs.
07:59So all there is, the only thing on this tour that's fun is the humor.
08:04It's loud and clear.
08:06There's a lot of humor going on.
08:08But there's no malfeasance, right?
08:09There's no party bus.
08:11There's no any of that.
08:13My kids are out on the tour.
08:14It's like a family vacation.
08:16It's kind of like, for me, I don't know.
08:19It couldn't be more fun, you know?
08:22Now, yeah, I mean, I tell my kids all the time, preparation is key.
08:25And I suppose it sounds like you were prepared for the tour.
08:29Yeah.
08:29I mean, even here where I'm sitting, right?
08:31Like, I got, yes, I am.
08:33I can practice stuff, like right here.
08:36This is my freaking office.
08:38I'm like, I'm sitting here like that.
08:41Right.
08:42Yeah, you know?
08:43Well, don't do that now.
08:44We still have to talk about other things.
08:47Well, you know, it's kind of like you rediscover your instrument, you know, in a different era.
08:52And you find it like, it's fun.
08:53Drums is a blast.
08:54Like, I've been going around telling people, you know, when they say to me, aren't you too old to play
08:58drums?
08:59I say, no, you should take it up, actually.
09:01She just played drums.
09:02We're all drummers, inner drummers, right?
09:04We grew up in Mama's womb.
09:06That was the first bass drum that we heard.
09:07That's the first cadence, the first rhythm, right?
09:10Yeah.
09:11And I said, think about humans.
09:12I don't see any animals dancing.
09:15You need to listen to your inner drummer.
09:16It's good.
09:17It's good for your, it's good for your noggin as well.
09:20Hey, speaking of that, did you see the Neil Peart documentary, No One's Disciple?
09:25I watched it a couple weeks ago.
09:26I thought it was great.
09:27I have not seen it yet.
09:28And I would love to see it.
09:30Is it on Netflix?
09:31I watched it on YouTube.
09:33It's just on YouTube for free streaming.
09:35So I watched it like a couple weeks ago.
09:36It's great.
09:38Yeah.
09:38I mean, I got it.
09:39I mean, it's such a loss to the music world, losing Neil too much too young.
09:45But, you know, such a talented man and such a nice man as well.
09:49Yeah.
09:50The thing with that documentary, I found kind of, I never met Neil.
09:55You're a tall guy.
09:56Everyone kept commenting how big he was.
09:58He was very large.
09:59Okay.
10:00The first time I met him at Metalworks, you know, we worked, we did two or three Rush
10:04projects here and I'm friends with Al through golf.
10:09So we're golf buddies.
10:11And, but, you know, Neil's, you know, we're very shy and so on.
10:14So, and I don't go barging in on, you know, when other bands are at Metalworks.
10:18If I meet them, I meet them.
10:20If I don't, I don't, but I don't barge in when they're working.
10:22But I did meet, I did meet Neil.
10:25And that, the first thing that struck me was, you know, he's tall.
10:29I'm not sure if he's as tall as me or we're around the same height.
10:33Like I'm six, three, he's in that six, two, three, four range, somewhere's in there.
10:38And, and also kind of a pretty big guy.
10:40Like I'd say, he's probably a couple hundred pounds, you know, so he's got a little bit
10:44more beef on him than I do.
10:46Yeah.
10:46A lot of people are saying that, and like I said, I never had a chance to meet him, but
10:49that kept coming up.
10:50Going back to your tour and stuff, I know that you're into all the, all the bells and the
10:54whistles and the lights.
10:55So what did you think of your production on this, on this, this go around through the
10:58summertime?
10:58Oh, I thought it was really good, you know, but, um, can always be better.
11:02So like we're, we're, we're bringing out, uh, we're bringing out lasers.
11:06We weren't able to bring out lasers the first time around getting into the, um, modern, uh,
11:12rules, I guess I'd say concerning lasers and the regulations and stuff and finding the
11:17right, you know, uh, people for it to work with up our RLD, Paul Dexter.
11:23It took a while.
11:24So, but we have lasers coming out, uh, you know, on this tour and we had a couple other
11:28tricks that we didn't have on the first leg of the tour.
11:31So, you know, I mean, there's never going to be a time when, when triumph, you know, sort
11:35of backs down on production.
11:37I mean, that's, that's part of our, that's part of our history, right?
11:40We were always, you know, go big or go home type bands.
11:43So that'll never, that'll never change.
11:46Yeah.
11:46That's your thing for sure.
11:47You know, we got some new pyro gizmos too on this.
11:51Um, and we had a lot of pyro on the last leg, but we have more pyro on this, which,
11:56and
11:56of course in triumph, pyro is mandatory as everyone would get attention to where.
12:00So yes, this time it's more pyro.
12:04That's funny.
12:05Did you ever, did you ever meet Paul O'Neill from Trans-Siberian Orchestra?
12:08That dude was all about bigger, brighter, more explosions.
12:11I don't know if you ever met him.
12:13No, but, um, maybe we're, uh, you know, kindred spirits or something like that.
12:18I was always, you know, as a kid, I was just always into like effects.
12:24I just thought they were the neatest things as some of the earliest triumph things that we
12:27did, they were homemade.
12:28You know, I remember we invented this thing called a mirror wheel and it was just came
12:33right out of nowhere.
12:34It was just like, I got an idea.
12:35Let's break a mirror and let's, you know, cut it into a, cut a piece of plywood in a
12:39circle, glue all the mirrors on it and put it on an antenna rotor from, from we, I forget
12:45where we stole the antenna rotor, you know, probably off one of our parents' homes.
12:49And we put that big old wheel on there and it would go like this.
12:54And we, you know, we had this old spotlight that was like off Noah's Ark because we were
13:00just a, you know, beginning band.
13:02We didn't have any money.
13:03And we hit this thing in bars with this, with this spotlight and all this, this sort of crazy
13:09light would, and people flipped.
13:11They'd never seen anything like it, you know?
13:13Yeah.
13:14And we had, we had some magic tricks we did, you know, like I, I, we had, uh, we had
13:18spark
13:19sparklers from Halloween.
13:20That was another cheap and cheerful effect.
13:22We'd come out on stage and Mike and Rick would have sparklers on their guitars.
13:26There'd be sparks flying as we came on stage.
13:28It's crazy stuff, but we loved it.
13:30No, that's wild.
13:31It sounds like a, it sounds like a disco ball on steroids.
13:34That's what you had.
13:36We had disco balls too.
13:39Nothing wrong with it.
13:40I don't call them a disco ball, but I know what you mean.
13:43Did you, uh, have you, have you seen Rush on their, their tour this summer yet?
13:47I haven't seen Rush, but I hear it's great.
13:49Like, I am not surprised.
13:51Like they're, they're, speaking of lighting and stuff like their LD Howard.
13:54I know him quite well.
13:55He's great at what he does.
13:57And of course the band is phenomenal.
14:00And, uh, you know, get an Al have been doing a terrific, uh, terrific job.
14:05And, and what can you say, uh, you know, about Annika?
14:08Like she's just, she's just blowing the, blowing the doors off it.
14:11She's doing a great job.
14:12She's an amazing player.
14:14Yeah.
14:14Did you hear, have you heard of, did you hear about her before she, uh, before she, she got in
14:18Rush?
14:18No, not really.
14:19I mean, when I heard that Rush was getting a drummer, like, you know, all my friends were sending me,
14:24oh, blah, blah, blah.
14:25Have you heard of this gal?
14:26And I, I said, no.
14:28And they said, well, what do you think?
14:29And I said, well, I've never heard her play.
14:31So, uh, I listened to her play on YouTube and I texted them back.
14:36And I said, she's, she's absolutely great.
14:38Yeah.
14:39Yeah.
14:39Yeah.
14:39I saw there, I saw one of their shows here in Detroit and it was really good.
14:43And, um, I didn't get to see you guys when you were here in Detroit, I had something else going
14:46on that weekend, but like I said, I'm going to try to make it up to London on December 19th.
14:50That's only two hours and 15 minutes from Detroit.
14:52So I might try to make a Saturday night out of it.
14:56We're playing Cleveland too.
14:57That's not far.
14:58Yeah, that's right.
14:59Yeah.
14:59Cleveland.
14:59All right.
15:00We'll get in Cleveland.
15:01Yeah.
15:01Yeah.
15:02And, uh, before we started, I told you I was in Vegas.
15:04I saw Metallica at the sphere.
15:07And I, I, when I, when I found out I was talking to you, I'm like, I had to ask
15:10if, if you've seen any video from that, because that is right in your wheelhouse as far as like the,
15:14the, the visual spectacle.
15:17Yeah.
15:17I mean, I've, what I've seen in the sphere is it's, it's really is awesome.
15:23And, um, you know, when we started trying, if the, one of the whole, uh, key elements, I think is
15:30to how we started was no breaks between songs.
15:33Everything's going to be collage.
15:34Everything's going to be like, uh, that seamless experience.
15:38And then we're going to integrate, you know, the visuals with the audio.
15:43So it's not sort of in a gratuitous way where it's just, you know, boom for boom sake, it's more
15:48like, no, like when the energy of the music or the emotion of the music is, you know, this way
15:55can the scene between the lighting and the effects can enhance that, that feeling.
16:00So if the feeling is energy, then it's this, you know, if the scene is, is, you know, contemplative, then
16:07it's kind of rolling waves or whatever.
16:10So we think we've done a lot of that, uh, now with the addition of video walls, which of course
16:17we didn't have, no one had video walls in the eighties.
16:19It didn't exist.
16:20So it's been pretty, it's been pretty cool.
16:23So funny ways that we've been able to tie things together, like you'd see in the, um, you know, in
16:29the videos on YouTube, when, when the guys are doing allied forces and all three of them have the same
16:33guitar and, uh, but, but then we have the same thing in the background on the video.
16:38So, and it's, it's, when you're in the room, it's, it's powerful because now you've got like, you know, 20
16:44guitars, you know, that are all, you know, sort of synchronized one way or the other.
16:50Um, it's, it's nice to have that kind of extra bench strength from, from the effects.
16:57Yeah.
16:57Speaking of the other guys, your band is, uh, did Brent just get in a car accident over the weekend?
17:01Did I see that?
17:02Is he okay?
17:02I, I, I, I'm a dumbbell.
17:05I, I didn't even find out until last night and I went, Oh my God.
17:10So I texted him right away and said, what the hell?
17:13I didn't even know this happened.
17:15I said, are you okay?
17:16And anyway, we went, Brent and I went back and forth and back and forth a whole bunch.
17:20Uh, the net result is he got hit really hard.
17:24Some fool rear ended him and then actually took off, jumped into the oncoming traffic lanes.
17:32So this guy's obviously a major psycho that was driving the other vehicle.
17:37And I have no doubt that they'll catch on because there was, you know, in Vegas, there's a lot of
17:42video surveillance.
17:43So whoever he was, he's or she was there, they're going to get busted and they sure deserve it.
17:49Cause they could have killed everyone in that vehicle.
17:51So, but, uh, Brent is doing, uh, he's doing okay.
17:55He said, yeah, I mean, he's a tough dude.
17:57I mean, he just said to me, Hey Gil, you know, drummers are tough, you know?
18:01And I, and I, I texted him.
18:02I said, I know it's probably just about no different than rolling down a flight of stairs.
18:05Right.
18:05And he goes, yeah, yeah.
18:06About like that.
18:08So.
18:09Yeah.
18:10I'll be, I'll be in fighting form by the time I come up for rehearsing.
18:13So.
18:14Yeah, that's great.
18:15And of course, uh, you know, those guys, you know, uh, uh, they, they got slash coming up too.
18:19So they've got a lot on their schedule.
18:21Yeah.
18:22I mean, Phil's got Bon Jovi and they got slash and they, all, everybody has triumph and,
18:27you know, one big happy family, I guess.
18:30Yeah.
18:30It's good to be working and good to be touring, I suppose.
18:34But, uh, uh, how's Mike doing?
18:36Mike is, uh, about the same.
18:38Like he's, uh, spirits are great body.
18:41Not so great.
18:42So, um, you know, he, he's not in good enough shape to come out on the road.
18:46Is he, is the answer.
18:47Uh, if he makes an appearance at a gig, uh, because he feels up to it, um, that would be
18:53great.
18:54Um, but I, I'm not counting on it.
18:56Uh, on the other hand, his son, Matthew, um, Matt will probably be a, like half the shows
19:02at least.
19:03He was at at least half the shows, if not more on the last tour and Mike's grandkids show
19:08up, uh, with Matt from time to time.
19:12So, uh, you know, that's pretty cool.
19:14Uh, so he's part of the fan, he's part of the family, um, experience and, you know, we
19:20send Mike back.
19:21Well, of course he can see everything on YouTube too.
19:23So it's, it's, it's not like he doesn't see what's going on.
19:26And we do a sort of a, uh, you know, a salute to Mike during the show, uh, when he's,
19:32when
19:32he's not there.
19:32So he sort of becomes part of the show virtually, uh, and, uh, yeah, if we, if that's one of
19:38the things I think looking forward, if it turns out that he's not able to come back, you know,
19:44maybe that's something that we enhance even a bit more in the, in the, in the visuals or
19:49something like that as we go along.
19:51But Todd, uh, Todd has just done a, like a phenomenal job of not just filling in for Mike
19:58because Mike wasn't a lead singer, like Todd's also a massive lead singer.
20:02And, uh, we fooled around with Spellbound and rehearsals with me singing half and him
20:07singing half.
20:08And, you know, finally it was like, you know what, you're killing this man.
20:12And I, we're doing double drums in, in, in the Spellbound.
20:16So, uh, although Brent starts on keys, but then there's some double drum stuff that happens.
20:20And I said, I think, let me just hammer the drums and you hammer the vocal.
20:24And, uh, he's, he's, he's just doing a great job, uh, on that song.
20:30So I still feel like the same lucky guy I was when the band started.
20:34I always felt like when I was behind Mike and Rick, I had these two rock stars in front
20:38of me and, you know, it, they always were so strong downstage.
20:44All I had to do is keep my seatbelt on, you know, make sure, you know, I was playing singing
20:49and drumming at the same time was, it was always like a fool's errand, uh, try to make
20:54sure I didn't, you know, trip over myself, but, uh, it's, it's now it's, it's even, even
21:00more so, like I said, with Phil and Rick, um, my God, the guitars, when those guys get
21:05going together, it's like, you really have to experience it, especially through the big
21:10PA systems that we have now, like the PA systems we have are superior to what, you know,
21:16we had that I could, that I could remember.
21:18And, uh, we're on these, uh, things called in-ear monitors now, which are a whole different
21:23way of, of, uh, listening when you're on stage.
21:25So I actually hear it better on stage than we used to, you know, back then.
21:30And I can really get the full, you know, download of the crunch factor with those guitars.
21:35Like it's just, it's pounding.
21:37Yeah.
21:38The last time you toured, I'm assuming there was there, there, you didn't use in-ears,
21:41right?
21:41You had mine.
21:42There was no such thing.
21:43Yeah.
21:43No, there's a few guys are still using wedges.
21:46Like I know Angus uses wedges, um, but everybody else in ACDC is on, on ears and, you know,
21:52Rick and I were the, you know, well, we're not really sure about these things.
21:56And the other, the other guys are like, oh yeah, you've got to wear them.
22:00And I went, I'm in, Hey man, I'm deaf already.
22:02Like I got, you know, I got hearing aids and, you know, how's that going to wear?
22:06Oh, you have to take them out.
22:07These are like hearing aids.
22:08Yeah.
22:08We just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and we tried them and Rick had troubles and
22:14then he got new ones and, you know, I had troubles and, you know, then I had to figure out
22:18how
22:18to do it.
22:19And they're really hard to put in, you know, they're kind of like, and then you eventually
22:24get used to it.
22:25And then you realize that those guys were right and we were wrong.
22:27So there's no wedges.
22:28Yeah.
22:29I can imagine.
22:30And plus, you know, I have to imagine that there, does it make the band tighter because
22:35are you guys getting countdowns in your, your, your, your in-ears and stuff like that?
22:39Yeah.
22:40Yeah.
22:40We were, we're releasing a live recordings now, bootlegs that just come out.
22:47We just released a bootleg of never surrender from LA sports arena.
22:51And if we didn't just release it, it's coming out in a couple of days.
22:54It's out.
22:55It's out.
22:55Yeah.
22:56It's out.
22:56Okay.
22:57So, so there's a good example.
22:59Like I listened to that.
23:00It sounds, it sounds, it sounds okay, but I'm listening to it and I'm going, you know
23:03what?
23:05Rick is not able to hear himself at times singing lead vocal.
23:10So, you know, I can, I can hear where I can tell he's like, yeah, what am I having, what
23:14am I pitching off of?
23:16You know, whereas on, on in-ears like I've noticed on the tour this, this time, man, oh
23:23man, like the way he nails his, his vocal notes, uh, you know, so many of them just like pure
23:30as driven snow.
23:31Same thing with, with, with, with Phil and, and, uh, and Todd and Brent, when they sing,
23:37like when we hit the harmonies in that song, for example, and it would, they were so good
23:43in rehearsal, I put my hand up and said, Hey, I'm out.
23:45I don't, you don't, you don't need me.
23:46Like, I'm good.
23:47I'm just going to play drums.
23:48You know, it's a chance to just be a drummer again.
23:52And, and I got to tell you, those vocals are like, they're better than the record for
23:55crying out loud.
23:56And that's the in-ear monitors, because you can actually hear what you're doing and you
24:03can hear what the other guy's doing.
24:04Whereas if you listen to that LA sports arena and we're singing and it's like, you hear,
24:11but you don't hear, you're hearing the venue, you're, you're hearing the reflections on stage,
24:16you're hearing leakage into each other's microphones from the guitar amplifiers and symbols
24:22ringing and all this kind of stuff.
24:25So it's, it's not as, not as easy, I'll say much easier now to be, to be able to perform
24:32better.
24:33So I think, yeah, some of our performances now, I'd say they're tighter than, than what
24:38we were able to accomplish back in the day with the equipment we had.
24:41Yeah.
24:41And you're, you're, you're talking about the back, the backing vocals of a spellbound, which
24:46are so high and it's like some of the best backing vocals and triumphs catalog, in my opinion.
24:52Thanks.
24:53Yeah.
24:53I mean, you know, like they, I can't still hit those notes, the highest ones.
24:58Well, I shouldn't say I can't hit them.
25:00I can hit them, but not, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be that reliable maybe night after
25:04night.
25:05Whereas, um, you know, so if we were going to do the song with me, sing all the lead
25:11vocals, we'd probably tune it down a step.
25:13Whereas, uh, which is not a big deal.
25:15The audience can't really perceive that, but with Todd singing and it's like, no, it needs
25:20to, you can just do it in the original key.
25:22Like he's, he's, uh, he taught the tenor and, and, uh, and I'm a baritone too.
25:27So a baritone singing those, you know, like C's and D's and stuff like that, uh, there
25:33might be an E in there somewhere as well.
25:35Um, that's, that's pretty, uh, pretty much of a stretch.
25:39Mm-hmm.
25:40Uh, last thing here for you, Gil, and like I said, those, uh, that showed in London, December
25:4319th, you know, the Cleveland date by any chance, I mean, I can look it up, but, uh,
25:47do you know when that is?
25:48Yes, I do.
25:49Let me look it up for you.
25:51But I was just going to say, uh, uh, October 13th was the 50th anniversary of your debut record.
25:57I was going to ask you about any thoughts on 50 years.
26:01Um, well, 50 years is just, it's almost inconceivable to me, you know, it's like yesterday we were
26:08kids, we were in a bowling alley.
26:10Do you want to start a band?
26:11What should we call it?
26:12Yeah.
26:13And now, you know, after all this time and all the, you know, the, the shows that have
26:18been played and the, you know, the, the records that have been made and seeing how grateful,
26:23uh, you know, we are to the fans who are so loyal to us and feeling that emotion with the
26:29audience, it's, it, it really is, really is something, um, that you never could have imagined
26:36when you were a kid.
26:37So yeah, Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena is the third, is, is November 17th.
26:44And we go to Cincy on the 18th at the Heritage Bank Center.
26:48And then we go to Baltimore on the 21st for the CFG Bank Center.
26:54Then we go to Pittsburgh, Peterson Events Center, and then we go up to Green Bay on the 24th.
26:59And then we come back to Rocket Arena in Cleveland, November 25th.
27:03So that's the day.
27:04Gotcha.
27:05Yeah.
27:05Right around Thanksgiving there.
27:06So yeah.
27:07I mean, there's a lot of dates that are fairly close.
27:09Like even, uh, you know, the Fishers Events Center, uh, which is in Indianapolis.
27:15It says Fishers, Indiana, but it's Indianapolis.
27:17That's not too far.
27:19Um, yeah.
27:21Well, that's awesome.
27:22Well, I'm looking forward to checking out the show December 19th.
27:25And, um, man, I was listening to some of those records earlier today.
27:28You know, I knew I was talking to you and, uh, man, those records, they just stand up.
27:32They still, they, they stand up.
27:33They don't sound dated.
27:34They just, they sound fantastic.
27:37Thanks.
27:37I mean, I, I feel like, I feel pretty good about our records, to be honest with you.
27:42I mean, there's, I think every band hates a few of their songs and, you know, Triumph's no exception.
27:47I know I got the ones I just assumed never made it out there, but, um, some of the ones
27:53that were our better songs, they've actually, in my mind, gotten a little better over the
27:58years in terms of how I perceive them.
28:01Like I always, I always preferred, um, you know, when you're a young band, you're starting
28:06out, you really, I don't think you really think that you're ever really going to be
28:10any good.
28:10You're just trying to not be bad.
28:12It's different, you know, and good is reserved for somebody else, you know, when you're starting.
28:18And then at the end of the day, when you get a situation where you've got gold records or
28:22hall of fame awards or whatever, and you're like, okay, well, some people thought what
28:26we did was good.
28:27That's really nice.
28:28So then you try to go backtrack, go, why did, why did they think it's good?
28:32Why did, you know, what was it that we maybe took for granted at the time?
28:36Well, you take it for granted because again, you grew up in a world where people are saying,
28:40well, you guys are just from here, you can't be any good.
28:42So to make it, you have to go to another city, you know, or in our case, another country,
28:46we had to go to Texas in order to be accepted in our hometown.
28:51And it's easy to probably tell you the same thing.
28:53They had to go somewhere else to be accepted in Texas, you know?
28:59Yeah.
28:59So I, I, uh, I like where we're kind of sitting right now and I do find some of the
29:07songs that
29:08are meaningful to fans are turned out to be meaningful to me and have a bit more beef on
29:15the bone for my perception of them, at least then when we were actually recording them in
29:21the first, in the first place, I guess it's like, you know, a message in a bottle, it's
29:26like you launch it, well, is that message actually going to connect, you know, or is
29:30it just a piece of fluff?
29:31It's just going to blow away.
29:33And when you find out it actually had teeth, then you kind of go, okay, I guess that was
29:38a good one.
29:39Well, yeah, let's, let's do more of that.
29:42Or let's, let's realize why it was good.
29:44You know, and I guess it's the same grain and chaff, you know, sort of process you do
29:48with your, with your songs that are, that are, you wish you never made them up.
29:53And by the way, is that a picture of you guys early on in your, in your career?
29:57This one right there, that's my very first band.
30:00So yeah, that's, that's Fred and Jim and me, and we're actually in elementary school.
30:06So that was, that was me in, in, in grade seven, eight ish.
30:11Wow.
30:11And then we just come back from the music store and we have some new equipment and Fred's
30:16mom decided to come downstairs and take us, take a photo of us.
30:19And that's, that's the earliest picture I have of, of me on a set of drums.
30:25I had, I had a set before that, that was a, a Japanese, you know, a lousy drums.
30:33Um, when I first started and you know, that I saved up from mowing grass and, and, uh, you
30:39know, shoveling driveways and stuff.
30:40And I got this set, they were terrible sounding.
30:43They were called bell tone and I couldn't wait to get pro drums.
30:47And, and, and those ones there, those Rogers drums were, uh, really great pro drums.
30:54And, uh, my dad co-signed for me to get a loan at, uh, Long McQuaid here in Toronto.
31:00Wow.
31:00That's really cool.
31:01What a, what a great piece of history, man.
31:03That's awesome.
31:03Yeah.
31:04I can tell you what most musicians can really remember when they got their first pro, you
31:09know, guitar or their first pro set of drums or, you know, their first pro, you know,
31:14cause we always use cheap junk cause then we were kids and that's all we had.
31:18Right.
31:19This, this fan here, we literally, when we started before we got those, those amps, we
31:24had one little lamp like this big with a 15 inch speaker.
31:28Both guys are plugged into it.
31:29Plus a microphone.
31:31Wow.
31:32So you can imagine how that sounded.
31:36Yeah.
31:36I can imagine how your parents loved that.
31:39So, well, Gil, tell you what, thanks so much for the time as always.
31:43And, uh, we'll send people to your website, check out some of the dates, man, Grand Rapids,
31:47all those dates are close to Detroit here.
31:48So we'll have to get some people out there to road trip and go see the boys from triumph.
31:51So thanks so much for the time.
31:53Good luck with everything.
31:54Thanks for having me on meltdown.
31:55And I hope I see you out there.
31:57Make sure you come to the after show.
31:59If you come out to see us, check out talking rock with meltdown on all podcast platforms
32:03and WRIF.com.