GIL MOORE Says Fan Response To TRIUMPH's Comeback Tour Was 'Unbelievable': 'It Was 99.99% Positive'

In a new interview with Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice, TRIUMPH drummer/vocalist Gil Moore spoke about the legendary Canadian rockers' recently completed first tour in more than 30 years. For the 2026 trek, TRIUMPH's original members Moore and singer/guitarist Rik Emmett were joined by guitarist Phil X, drummer and keyboardist Brent Fitz and bassist Todd Kerns. Phil X, whose real name is Theofilos Xenidis, is a member of BON JOVI and a former member of TRIUMPH, while Fitz and Kerns are both members of SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS. Original TRIUMPH bassist Mike Levine did not take part in any of the 2026 tour dates after revealing in December 2025 that he has "a problem" with his hand that "precludes" him "from being able to really play well."

Asked about the fan response to the TRIUMPH reunion tour, Gil said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The feedback we got was unbelievable. When the tour started, there were those fans who were, like, 'Bring it on. Can't wait. Any version of TRIUMPH is great by me.' And then there were those that were the naysayers that were, 'Rik's not gonna show up. Gil's not gonna show up. They're gonna mail it in' or something, or, 'It's gonna be all on tape.' All of which was baloney, because we proved them all wrong. And one show at a time, they just got knocked down like bowling pins. And you can see the social media — anybody can see the social media — it's 99.99% positive. The only guy that was upset couldn't get a parking spot. So that was a big change. And it's a confidence booster for us."

Moore continued: "From the stage, you could see people crying. You could see people cheering and crying. It was very much like a family reunion, is what this tour was. And I think it shocked a lot of people that the band was playing at the level that we were now capable of playing at, and that we had no backup tapes. Everything was live. Nothing was mailed in. Everything was real. So the result was — it was pretty incredible.

"I've been around Rik Emmett my whole life. I've never, ever seen him as happy as on this tour," Gil added. "It's written all over his face. You can see it a mile away. And I was backstage with him, hugging him, and he's like a kid. He's so excited. Even the guys in [support act] APRIL WINE were excited for us because they could see this thing going on."

After Kay noted that the TRIUMPH tour started off well on April 10 in Orlando, Florida but quickly got better as the band got more comfortable performing on big stages again, Moore concurred. "The way I see the tour, it's kind of like when you go to get your lawnmower for the first time in the spring to cut the grass, and you forgot to drain the gas out of it," Gil explained. "It's got stale gas in it. You didn't clean the underside. It's still got some grass clippings from last year. And you try to start the thing up, and it's, like — it's got a rough go. You finally get the thing going, and it's kind of coughing and sputtering. That was kind of the rock and roll machine getting going. And no matter how many rehearsals we had at [Moore's recording studio] Metalworks, there's no comparison to being on a big stage. And when we were playing in Florida, every now and then we'd look at each other, and the look was, 'Do you know where I am? Do I know where you are?' And so there was this, I'll call it the look of uncertainty. And also a little bit of comedy in there because it would be, like, 'Oh my God. The rollercoaster's going and the seatbelt's loose.' And then we came to Sault Ste. Marie [in Ontario on April 22]… And so we got it sort of settled down, put fresh gas in the tank, and all of a sudden it was like… We had new sound guys — boom, big change in Sault Ste. Marie. Then we come down and we play Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and TD Coliseum in Hamilton, of course, and then cross the border. So by the time we hit Chicago and we're going in the Midwest through St. Louis, Kansas City, and stuff, all of a sudden things are starting to cook. And then by the time we get into Texas, it's boiling. It's on fire now. So it was a jelling of the musicians, a blowing off of some cobwebs, I'll say, or just not having adequate rehearsal time or whatever. But, yeah, once it got going, it was like a well-tuned machine."

Asked about the possibility of more shows from the reformed TRIUMPH in the coming months, Gil said:  "Well, we figured out that we're capable of it. I kind of look at it like this: in sports, the thing that kills sports teams is a bad dressing room. And you look at a lot of these bands that are out there, and they can't get along with each other. Or the wives can't get along. TRIUMPH's the opposite. So we've got a super dressing room where everyone is... It's a mutual admiration society, I suppose you'd call it. Everyone gets along great. Everyone's got a great sense of humor, which is imperative. Everyone likes pyro, which is mandatory. Yeah, it couldn't be any better in the dressing room. And then family support — I mean, we've got family support like no band out there. And that's why I say that the fans [are] just a part of the extended family. So, when they ask us to do shows, yeah, I suppose it depends on a lot of things, what we might do in the future. We're definitely gonna do another [documentary] film, so that's already partially in the can. So that's gonna be neat, to have another doc out there. And I think we'll probably play some more shows, but until they're locked in and everyone's in agreement, I don't wanna start shooting my mouth off."

Moore also talked about TRIUMPH's upcoming documentary, which will be the follow-up to "Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine". "Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine", directed by Sam Dunn and Marc Ricciardelli for Banger Films, was in pre-production in 2019 with plans for a 2020 release, but the COVID-19 pandemic stalled those plans. Having premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 97-minute documentary, which mixed interviews with the band, archival footage and ecstatic and emotional responses from the fans, was finally made available in 2022.

"The first documentary doesn't answer 'what now?'" Gil told The Metal Voice. "It sort of culminates in the superfan fest, I'll call it, at Metalworks, and the guys ride off into the sunset, and it's, like, who knows? There's no end to this. And I've been saying for 25 years, like, 'I'm not going back on the road with TRIUMPH. That will never happen.' And I was 100% serious when I said that. And Rik said more or less the same thing too. Like, 'I'm not going back out on the road.' Even his own solo career, he retired. 'I'm not playing anymore.' So neither one of us were looking like anything was gonna happen. But the fluke in all this — well, it's a series of flukes. I mean, the fluke number one was just the thing that happened in the hockey playoffs [when Phil X, Fitz and Kerns played with Gil and Rik on June 6, 2025 at the Rogers Festival At The Final, a free outdoor concert in the ICE District ahead of Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada]… But what that sparked, of course, was a lot of interest from fans and a lot of speculation. And then Live Nation all of a sudden plotted a tour and said, 'We really need to do this,' which I still thought was probably not gonna happen and was probably... I don't know. What band takes two and a half decades off and then starts playing again? Nobody does that, right? But we did. So, that's funny that we were able to do that. I think it's kind of like when we first went to America and we said we were gonna headline every show from day one. And everyone that knew what they were doing said, 'You guys are crazy. That'll never work.' And we made it work."

Elaborating on what the second TRIUMPH documentary will cover, Gil said: "I think it would be like having a seat, an insider seat and seeing what was going on — seeing the uncertainty and having to put together the whole concept of double drums on a double drum riser and what that entailed and the incredible job that Brent did with that. Or my journey back into performing.

"This is the thing — maybe the band wasn't performing [during those two and a half decades], but Rik was performing," Moore explained. "He was performing as a solo artist all this time. I wasn't. So, I was never concerned about Rik. I knew his playing is great. He's gonna be fine. As long as he feels good, and as long as his health is solid, he's gonna be great. The other guys are obviously great. So I was most concerned about myself. So it documents, I think, each person's journey. I think Rik, it wasn't his playing, but I think there was still a lot of apprehension, a lot of uncertainty, like, 'Should I do this? Should I not do this?' I think it's that, 'Does she love me? Does she hate me?' kind of stuff that we do to ourselves."

Moore went on to say that the "Metalworks team" filmed everything that happened during the planning of the TRIUMPH reunion tour. Gil explained: "I said, like, 'Win, lose or draw, even if this ship sinks in the harbor before it ever leaves, we're gonna film the whole thing.' And so maybe the end of TRIUMPH is the ship sinks.

"I don't think anybody could have forecast how well it went," Moore continued. "And then in the venues, as you saw, the fan reaction, people were just standing up the whole show… And then we didn't play any shows where there wasn't this kind of massive excitement, and it was all, 'I think that was better than yesterday.' Every show was better than yesterday when really they weren't. They were all the same. It was very enlightening, I think, for all of us to see how this five-piece version of TRIUMPH worked, the splitting up of the drums so that we effectively have Brent playing keyboards and just Gil playing drums, or we have Gil singing out front and Brent playing drums, or we have Gil and Brent both playing drums and Rik or Phil or Todd singing out front. So it was kind of this relay race of... It's just a different setup than any band I've ever played in."

TRIUMPH's 2026 North American run of shows celebrated the band's 50th anniversary, and featured support from APRIL WINE. The 2026 trek kicked off in Orlando and continued with a series of dates in Canada, beginning April 22 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and running through a May 8 show in Calgary, Alberta. From there, the band hit the U.S. starting May 13 in Rosemont, Illinois, and wrapped up June 10 in Laval.

Formed in Mississauga in 1975, TRIUMPH rose from playing high school auditoriums and rock 'n' roll bars to selling out iconic arenas, from Toronto's famed Maple Leaf Gardens to Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Their virtuosic musicianship, soaring vocals, and dazzling, high-production live shows helped define an era of arena rock. Blending hard rock power with progressive ambition, TRIUMPH has sold over 15 million albums worldwide and earned multiple gold and platinum certifications, building a global following through headline tours and landmark festival performances, including the 1983 US Festival before 500,000 fans. With hits like "Lay It on The Line", "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight" — combined with pioneering stage productions featuring pyrotechnics, laser lighting, and theatrical flair — TRIUMPH became arena rock legends, securing a permanent place in Canadian and international rock history.

The band's return to the road followed a defining year honoring TRIUMPH's impact across generations. In June 2025, the band was celebrated with "Magic Power: All-Star Tribute To Triumph" (Round Hill Records, June 6, 2025),a 15-track tribute album featuring rock luminaries such as Phil X, Sebastian Bach, Slash, Nancy Wilson, Joey Belladonna, Dee Snider, Lawrence Gowan, Deen Castronovo, Alex Lifeson, Jeff Keith, Mickey Thomas and produced by the world-renowned Mike Clink (GUNS N' ROSES, MÖTLEY CRÜE, WHITESNAKE).

Further solidifying their celebrated status, TRIUMPH was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame in October, a prestigious honor recognizing their enduring influence, masterful songwriting, and contributions to Canada's cultural legacy. This induction added to their long list of accolades, which includes membership in the Canadian Music Industry Hall Of Fame (2007),the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame (2008),and Canada's Walk Of Fame (2019).

Emmett, who quit TRIUMPH — acrimoniously, in 1988 — over music and business disputes, went on to pursue a solo career, while TRIUMPH carried on with future BON JOVI guitarist Phil X for one more album, 1992's "Edge Of Excess", before calling it a day the following year.

Emmett was estranged, both personally and professionally, from the two other members of the legendary Canadian classic rock power trio for 18 years before they repaired their relationship.

After 20 years apart, Emmett, Levine and Moore played at the 2008 editions of the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma. A DVD of the historic Sweden performance was made available four years later.