AHHHH, the rock and roll glory days of the 80's. A time when long-forgotten bands like Triumph ruled the stage. A time when men could wear polka-dotted spandex and mascara and still be cool. Man, I miss those days. The early 80's was when I saw the lions-share of my concerts, when bands like Triumph, Judas Priest, and the Scorpions, were the big boys on the tour circuit, and grunge was still just a synonym for grime. I missed my only chance to see Triumph, when one of my high school hockey games got scheduled on the night they came to town. My friend, who went to the show without me, zealously reported the next day that Triumph was the most mind-blowing show he had ever seen - and we saw some pretty mind-blowing shows that year. If you are new to this genre, and are looking for the ultimate example of what an overblown, rock concert was all about back then, then A Night Of Triumph is the one to watch. Not a single shred of 80's, arena-rock bombast and excess is missing from this here baby.
The concert was recorded on January 6, 1987, at the Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia during Triumph's Sport of Kings tour. When the house lights dimmed, a giant laser-generated face introduces the band, and ends with "...this is your night of Triumph!" A few giant explosions later and we are into the first verse of "Tears In The Rain". It doesn't take long to realize that Triumph had arguably the biggest and baddest, arena-rock stage show in the business back then. You may never see this much wattage, lasers, and pyrotechnics used ever again, unless this same trio of Canadians finally decide to reunite.
As for the music...oh who cares about the music with a show like that! But seriously, Triumph actually had some pretty great songs back in the day, and many of them still hold up nicely if you should be so lucky as to cross one on your FM dial. The setlist is rather short, only twelve songs, so many of their best songs get skipped to make room for the newer stuff. The band only had eight studio albums up to this point and they completely ignore three of them during this show. Skipping the debut album was understandable, but Progressions Of Power and Never Surrender should have rated at least one song each. I would have tossed out the dreadful "Somebody's Out There" and "Take A Stand" from Sport of Kings for Progressions Of Power's "I Live For The Weekend" and Never Surrender's title track. I guess you've got to promote the new album though.
Article comments
1 - Laura
I was wondering why I couldn't download a live version of "Follow your heart".Any suggestions? I only have limewire.