After over 20 years apart, veteran Canadian hard rock act Triumph finally heeded the call of the fans and reunited for a few live shows in 2008, one of them being at the Sweden Rock Festival, documented here on CD & DVD. Comprising their entire 10 song set at Sweden Rock in front of thousands of fans, this will be a fun and emotional ride for longtime fans of the band who have waited two decades for the band to get back together and make magic once again. While never as big as fellow Canadians Rush, Triumph nonetheless were a very popular act in North America throughout the '80s, selling lots of albums, sold out tours, videos on MTV, and plenty of FM radio airplay. Judging by the reaction of the fans during this concert, you can tell they were missed, and seeing that Triumph rarely played Europe back in their heyday, many of these fans were no doubt seeing the band for the very first time.
Though they hadn't played together in quite some time, Rik Emmett (guitar/vocals), Gil Moore (drums/vocals), and Mike Levine (bass/keyboards), joined by second guitarist Dave Dunlop, hadn't lost a step, as they ran through a short but strong selection of some of their best known tunes for the fans at Sweden Rock. "Lay It On the Line", "Allied Forces", "Magic Power", "Fight the Good Fight", "Never Surrender", and "Rock & Roll Machine" are all here, with both Emmett and Moore in surprisingly good vocal form after not tackling these songs in such a long time (though Emmett occasionally dips into the Triumph bag of tricks on some of his solo shows), and the band, with Dunlop's help, are tight as a drum here. Emmett shows why he was always considered one of heavy rocks more talented players of that era, and he and Dunlop make for a potent team, especially on the amazing "Blinding Light Show/Moon Child", one of the bands more adventurous early songs. Toss in a rousing "I Live For the Weekend" and a fun guitar duel on Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" (though I would have rather seen them do "A World of Fantasy", "Hold On" or "Follow Your Heart" instead) and you have a great nostalgia trip for every '80s arena rock fan.The band seemed to be in great spirits and enjoying playing with each other again, though they seemed a tad stiff on the first song "When the Lights Go Down" but quickly warmed up to the event.
Both picture quality on the DVD and the sound are quite good, and it was a great call to include the CD of the performance as well. Glad to see they included the Press Conference at the festival where the band answer questions about the concert and the reunion. Though they seemed optimistic that the band would be doing other shows in the future, in the years since there hasn't been any activity, so who knows what the future holds, but if Triumph never performs again, this was a pretty damn good finale.
Track Listing
1) When the Lights Go Down
2) Lay It On the Line
3) Allied Forces
4) Never Surrender
5) I Live For the Weekend
6) Blinding Light Show/Moon Child
7) Rocky Mountain Way
8) Magic Power
9) Rock & Roll Machine
10) Fight the Good Fight
Bonus Material:
Sweden Rock Press Conference
Behind the Scenes/Photo Gallery
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