Triumph brought their nostalgic Rock & Roll Machine tour to Calgary's Saddledome, delivering a high-energy performance that celebrated their storied five-decade legacy.
Fuelled by raw nostalgia, the so-called Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded stadium tour has been creakily making its way across the country and has placed the band back in its natural habitat.. Led by guitarist-vocalist Rik Emmett, who is still surprisingly youthful at 72, and vocalist- drummer Gil Moore, the band revisited all of its hits with cheerful bombast and technical prowess, offering a sturdy reminder why they once dominated classic-rock radio.. Bassist Mike Levine,
who co-founded the band with Moore and Emmett, has been absent from the tour but received a nice tribute.. The lineup was buoyed by guitarist-vocalist Phil X.. drummer Brent Fitz and bassist-vocalist Todd Kerns, who all proved to be capable pinch-hitters when Moore and Emmett needed to take breathers.. For Calgary fans, many who have possibly been following the band for a good part of its 50-year history, Friday’s show was a polished and crowd-pleasing
treat.. If nothing else, it was an interesting reminder of a specific time and place.. Whether memories of the band in its heyday make you smile, smirk, cringe or laugh, Triumph once embodied the sort of stadium-rocker mold that no longer exists: the spandex jumpsuits, the flying V guitars, the toothy grins and toothless anthems about believing in yourself and following your dreams.