Dave2112
Level of Cherry Feather
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- Apr 17, 2001
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A couple of months ago, I reviewed Triumph's "Live at the US Festival" DVD and finished off by saying I couldn't wait for a full-length concert to be released. The wait is over.
Yesterday, I picked up a copy of "A Night of Triumph: Live" and have watched it three times. To anybody who is a fan of the "other" Canadian power trio, this is a highly recommendable disc.
Recorded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1987 on the "Sport of Kings" tour, the energy and spectacle of a live Triumph show are fully captured in a nifty trip back to the wild '80's. I watched it on a large screen TV with 5.1 surround, which I highly recommend for this disc. Many concert videos do not fully utilize 5.1 and simply put the audience noise in the back speakers. This is true surround. As you sit and watch this show, a dazzling array of sonic input assaults you from all sides.
The mix is great, although there were a (very) few sloppy moments. For this tour, Triumph had added a fourth member for the live shows; keyboardist/guitarist Rick Santers, who had provided a lot of help on the Sport of Kings album. The addition of Rick helped out a lot, especially on the newer stuff.
Speaking of "newer" stuff, the Disc is thankfully light on "Sport of Kings" material, as many fans (myself included) were a tad dissapointed by the attempted "BonJovi-ization" Triumph went through in that period. However, the three tunes from that album are kicked up a notch in this live show and come across as actually better than the recorded versions.
Visually, this disc is like a trip back to the '80's. From the magnificant light show to Rik Emmett's striped spandex and Rick Santers' mullet...you know this was taped in '87. Just look at the audience shots. But it works, and brings back fond memories of a time when rock was big and simply fun.
Musically, all of the things that made Triumph so good are here. Rik Emmett continues to piss me off in being able to play guitar that well, while singing that good...all effortlessly. Drummer Gil Moore is in good form vocally as well. As usual, bassist Mike Levine provides comic relief in his interaction with the audience (not to mention the Sammy Hagar jumpsuit!).
My only real complaint with this DVD is the song selection. While there are many classic Triumph tunes to blow you away, there is a glaring lack of material from the fantastic "Never Surrender" album...no "World of Fantasy" "When the Lights Go Down" or the title track. The encores contain a cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" which I felt could have been left off in favor of at least ONE track from "Never Surrender". Also, the representative songs from the band's magnum opus "Thunder Seven" are both Gil Moore-sung tunes, while I was really hoping for the inclusion of "Rock Out, Roll On" or "Time Goes By"...two of Rik Emmett's best vocal performances. However, the disc does include Rik's gorgeous acoustic guitar instrumental "A Midsummer's Daydream".
All in all, this is a great concert video. For those who look at things from a strictly musical standpoint, the aforementioned "Live at the US Festival" disc is actually a bit better and more spontaneous. As Rik explained in the commentary on that disc, Triumph arrived at the show a bit late, had no soundcheck, played on other people's equipment and were suddenly thrust in front of over 300,000 people in the middle of the day with no light show or other augmenting input. It was purely about the music and it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
However, "A Night of Triumph: Live" stands as a wonderful testament to the long-gone spectacle of the arena rock show in all of it's glory. For fans of Triumph or just fans of '80's rock, I highly recommend this DVD.
😎
Yesterday, I picked up a copy of "A Night of Triumph: Live" and have watched it three times. To anybody who is a fan of the "other" Canadian power trio, this is a highly recommendable disc.
Recorded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1987 on the "Sport of Kings" tour, the energy and spectacle of a live Triumph show are fully captured in a nifty trip back to the wild '80's. I watched it on a large screen TV with 5.1 surround, which I highly recommend for this disc. Many concert videos do not fully utilize 5.1 and simply put the audience noise in the back speakers. This is true surround. As you sit and watch this show, a dazzling array of sonic input assaults you from all sides.
The mix is great, although there were a (very) few sloppy moments. For this tour, Triumph had added a fourth member for the live shows; keyboardist/guitarist Rick Santers, who had provided a lot of help on the Sport of Kings album. The addition of Rick helped out a lot, especially on the newer stuff.
Speaking of "newer" stuff, the Disc is thankfully light on "Sport of Kings" material, as many fans (myself included) were a tad dissapointed by the attempted "BonJovi-ization" Triumph went through in that period. However, the three tunes from that album are kicked up a notch in this live show and come across as actually better than the recorded versions.
Visually, this disc is like a trip back to the '80's. From the magnificant light show to Rik Emmett's striped spandex and Rick Santers' mullet...you know this was taped in '87. Just look at the audience shots. But it works, and brings back fond memories of a time when rock was big and simply fun.
Musically, all of the things that made Triumph so good are here. Rik Emmett continues to piss me off in being able to play guitar that well, while singing that good...all effortlessly. Drummer Gil Moore is in good form vocally as well. As usual, bassist Mike Levine provides comic relief in his interaction with the audience (not to mention the Sammy Hagar jumpsuit!).
My only real complaint with this DVD is the song selection. While there are many classic Triumph tunes to blow you away, there is a glaring lack of material from the fantastic "Never Surrender" album...no "World of Fantasy" "When the Lights Go Down" or the title track. The encores contain a cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" which I felt could have been left off in favor of at least ONE track from "Never Surrender". Also, the representative songs from the band's magnum opus "Thunder Seven" are both Gil Moore-sung tunes, while I was really hoping for the inclusion of "Rock Out, Roll On" or "Time Goes By"...two of Rik Emmett's best vocal performances. However, the disc does include Rik's gorgeous acoustic guitar instrumental "A Midsummer's Daydream".
All in all, this is a great concert video. For those who look at things from a strictly musical standpoint, the aforementioned "Live at the US Festival" disc is actually a bit better and more spontaneous. As Rik explained in the commentary on that disc, Triumph arrived at the show a bit late, had no soundcheck, played on other people's equipment and were suddenly thrust in front of over 300,000 people in the middle of the day with no light show or other augmenting input. It was purely about the music and it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
However, "A Night of Triumph: Live" stands as a wonderful testament to the long-gone spectacle of the arena rock show in all of it's glory. For fans of Triumph or just fans of '80's rock, I highly recommend this DVD.
😎
