GIL MOORE Wants To 'Bring Back Some Memories' With New TRIUMPH Live Experience

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, TRIUMPH drummer and vocalist Gil Moore spoke about ongoing plans for the legendary Canadian rockers to develop a high-tech concept that would bring their music back to the stage. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've had people ask me, 'Well, is that like what ABBA's doing in London?' And I say, 'Well, no. It's not.' That's a lot of three-dimensional content and so on. And it's kind of an animated movie, if you will.

"Paul Dexter [our lighting designer from back in the day], he did Ronnie Dio from BLACK SABBATH's initial hologram events that were done. He also did Frank Zappa, which is where I caught up with him, 'cause we're buddies. And I said, 'Paul, can we do something with TRIUMPH?' So we talked about it. And he said, 'Well, take a look at Frank's hologram.' And so I went and saw it. We went back to the hotel after the gig, and I said, 'No, this would never work for TRIUMPH.' So we were kind of scratching our heads, saying, 'Well, what could we do?' Because we both like technology and I've always been a geek when it comes to lighting and sound and things. So we started to investigate.

"My school [Metalworks Institute] up here in Canada was partners with Microsoft in their development, a partner program. They had a mixed reality department, and we started looking into it. The next thing you know, all of a sudden we went off on a different path altogether, and we've been through two or three different technologies that we wanted to use to bring the original bandmembers into a new band with new musicians. So basically the best of both worlds — to try to have players that can cut the road and are younger than us and have got the tremendous playing skills, but be able to give fans kind of the throwback that they want. So we thought if we can bring the three bandmembers into this and bring [former TRIUMPH and current BON JOVI guitarist] Phil [X] back to reignite the original band, now we have a six-piece power trio.

"I don't think anybody will [understand it] until it's out there, until it's seen. But Paul and I are doing our best. No wine before its time. We'll see where it goes, but right now there's a lot of conversations between Mike [Levine, TRIUMPH bassist], Rik [Emmett, TRIUMPH guitarist/vocalist] and I, and Phil and our manager Jason and [producer] Mike Clink, of course, who's been an instigator in a lot of things. And hopefully we're gonna bring something out there that fans are just gonna go 'wow' for, and then everyone will know what it is. [Laughs]"

Asked if he misses the stage and playing live, Gil said: "We did feel that way about it. And with me, because I wanted to be at home, raise my kids, and I also had an elderly mother, there was reasons why I wanted to stay in Toronto. So once it takes you away from that, I'll call it live game, which is truly a sport in a three-piece power trio, especially for the drummer, and if you're gonna sing on top of that, it's a real athletic endeavor. And it is for Mike and Rik as well. But your life takes a turn into a new area. And I love what we do at Metalworks and I love being with my family. So ultimately my family takes precedence over traveling. And I know you can get back and forth and so on, but I just wanna be there all the time for them. So I'm very happy with that decision

"If we get this mixed reality tour rolling, it'll be a great way to really thank the fans because I'm totally blown away with how loyal TRIUMPH fans are," he continued. "And I guess some of the thinking behind this is, as you know in Michigan, 'cause you're in Detroit, but everyone knows in Grand Rapids you would see TRIUMPH, you'd see TRIUMPH in Saginaw, you'd see triumphant in Petoskey, you'd see TRIUMPH in Flint. We played all of those smaller towns as well, and we'd sneak around the corner and play Green Bay, Wisconsin, or the other way and play Toledo. Yeah, there were the Chicagos, the Clevelands, the Detroits and the L.A.'s and New Yorks, but there were also these smaller towns. That's how we built it up. And that's why I think a lot of those fans have those experiences from those small towns, not just the big ones. And this is an effort to say, okay, maybe we can take the TRIUMPH show back into those markets and bring back some memories and also some real surprises."

Earlier in the month, Moore told Talkin' Bout Rock about the upcoming TRIUMPH mixed reality show: "[It's] something I've been working on with Paul Dexter, who's our lighting designer from back in the day. And Paul's really kind of a genius behind the lighting board. And he was involved in the early stages of holograms — he did Ronnie Dio from SABBATH and he did Frank Zappa as well. And we got together, 'cause I was trying to look at a way to bring TRIUMPH back to life because people wanted us to tour, but I knew I couldn't because I didn't have the time. And you reach a certain stage after we did the [2021 TRIUMPH] documentary ['Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine'] and we performed, and I said, 'You know what?' The type of performance we did, like the vocals were so high and there was so much high energy… I saw the THE EAGLES this year, and I thought certain types of music are easier on you physically. The hard rock power trio is probably about as tough as it gets. Singing and playing drums, for example, that's another thing — it's like a double whammy. So, I wanted to see if there was a way, through technology, to do something completely different, 'cause I didn't really like the hologram situation. The hologram itself was pretty cool, but it's just the way… I was sitting with Paul afterwards and he said, 'What do you think?' And I said, 'The hologram's cool, but it's not a platform. It's just a feature on a platform.' And that became the turning point. He said, 'A feature on a platform, not the platform.' He was, 'Well, what do you mean?' And I said, "Well, we, we need something that surrounds that. That's just one effect.' So we set out on this path towards mixed reality, which was starting to become something that was being talked about in research circles and so on at the time. A.I. hadn't kicked in yet. And there were some additional types of projection technology that were coming along that were more sophisticated than how these original holograms were produced using the Pepper's ghost technique. And so we just pursued it, pursued it, pursued it over a bunch of years. So we've got it to the point now where we really think we've kind of nailed it."

Gil, who is currently promoting the upcoming TRIUMPH tribute album "Magic Power: All Star Tribute To Triumph", went on to say that the TRIUMPH live experience would entail "bringing the original band virtually in with the new musicians. So you've got the best of both worlds. You've got the power and the strength of some of the best musicians in the world, who we've recruited, by the way, from this album, from the tribute album. So this would be Phil X's TRIUMPH when it comes out, if we get it launched, which we're hoping is gonna happen either later this year or early next year. There will still be Mike, Rik and Gil in the show, but we'll be there virtually. And hopefully this will be the first power trio with six people in it. [Laughs]"

Moore added: "So, yeah, that's the plan. It's a wild plan and we'll have to see where it goes… We're pretty excited about it. And Paul Dexter's a genius. And we've got other people. We've got a technical team of about a half dozen guys. And then, of course, Phil, he's looking at just some great guys to work with as well. Like I said, they're guys from this tribute album. They're the best guys you can get anywhere in the world to play hard rock. So I think if it all gels, it's gonna be really something. But, yeah, I've got my fingers crossed. We'll just keep [on] going and do our best and see where we land."

Two months ago, Emmett told Talkin' Bout Rock about the upcoming TRIUMPH live experience: "Gil's got a bee in his bonnet about wanting to do this heavy-duty 3D hologram-ish… He wants TRIUMPH to go back and do a tour — not the guys in the band, but screen projection, digital stuff. And he wants to have a band that would have Phil X sort of putting the musicians together so that there would be a live band. But then we would be joining them by playing on the screens and just all this incredible stuff. And he's sending me scripts."

Moore has been talking about a possible TRIUMPH live experience for several years, including in a 2021 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. He said at the time that he was working on a "mixed-reality concept" that it is based on "sort of holography, but not in the traditional sense." He had been collaborating on the project with Paul Dexter, who had worked with TRIUMPH in the past on lighting and set design and was heavily involved with the hologram tours for both Ronnie James Dio and Frank Zappa.

"I'm not crazy about holograms," Moore said he told Dexter, "but the three-dimensional presentation — the holography, if you will — if you were able to deliver it on a better platform with more variables, I would like it." As for the audio, Gil said that it would consist of "Mike, Rik and Gil," for the most part, sourced from live concerts that no one has ever heard before. "But the presentation would be more akin to a biopic movie combined with classic video," Moore explained. "Combined with a combination of real effects as well as fake [ones] and magic."

Moore also talked about a possible new TRIUMPH live show in a May 2023 interview with The Metal Voice. He said at the time: "I have a plan to do a mixed reality tour for TRIUMPH. I've talked about it a few times in a few interviews. And, yeah, I'm very serious about that. I'm working with our lighting director Paul Dexter at Masterworks in Los Angeles. He's unbelievable and he's kind of the godfather of holograms. This is not a hologram tour by any means or a hologram concert, but we are gonna use forms of holography or three-dimensional recreation to do this. Yeah, there's a lot of technology involved. Let's put it this way — it's not gonna be like anything that anybody's ever seen before, if Paul and I get our way with the way we're developing the content that's gonna be seen, but it's gonna be something that'll blow people's minds and it'll be TRIUMPH through and through."

Elaborating on what this proposed TRIUMPH live experience will look like, Gil said: "I don't wanna tell too much other than the key is think of mixed reality and what that means. No glasses, no tricks that way — all the tricks will be coming from the stage — but we've got some phenomenal plans. All the music is pre-recorded, because it's all from live shows, but it will be custom tailored to this particular performance, let's say. And it involves some actors. It involves footage of Mike, Rick and Gil, and recreations of Mike, Rick and Gil, and some of the coolest things that people are gonna see in the touring market, I can tell you that."

Asked if the upcoming TRIUMPH live experience is an answer to fans who are constantly asking the three original guys to tour together again, Gil said: "It is, really. In a sense, there's this feeling of obligation to the fans, and yet your life moves on. So I'm fully engaged doing what I'm doing, and I have a lot of things that I'm working on that I'm passionate about in the education field and so on for music, so I don't have the bandwidth for another TRIUMPH tour at this stage. And Mike and Rick have different things they're doing as well. But we talk about TRIUMPH all the time — we love it, we're brothers, we always will be — and, yeah, this is a way to give something to the fans that we know will absolutely knock them right off their chairs. And we're excited about it. And we do have the bandwidth to do that, thanks to not only Paul, but our video director, Don Allan, some great technical people that we're working with — Harry Witz at Clair Global audio who's gonna do all the sound. This thing is gonna be really something else."

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.

Rik's memoir, "Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph", came out in October 2023 via ECW Press.

Moore, Levine, and Emmett formed TRIUMPH in 1975, and their blend of heavy riff-rockers with progressive odysseys, peppered with thoughtful, inspiring lyrics and virtuosic guitar playing quickly made them a household name in Canada. Anthems like "Lay It On The Line", "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight" broke them in the USA, and they amassed a legion of fiercely passionate fans. But, as a band that suddenly split at the zenith of their popularity, TRIUMPH missed out on an opportunity to say thank you to those loyal and devoted fans, a base that is still active today, three decades later.

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.

Back in 2016, Moore and Levine reunited with Rik as special guests on the "RES 9" album from Emmett's band RESOLUTION9.

Released in 2021, TRIUMPH's documentary, "Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine", was produced by Banger Films and directed by Sam Dunn and Marc Ricciardelli.

On June 6, TRIUMPH will be honored with a star-studded tribute album. "Magic Power: All Star Tribute To Triumph" will arrive via Round Hill Records, featuring such renowned rockers as Dorothy, Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW),Nancy Wilson (HEART),Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX),Slash (GUNS N' ROSES) and Jeff Keith (TESLA) covering classic TRIUMPH tunes. Also appearing on the 15-track album are drummers Kenny Aronoff (CHICKENFOOT) and Tommy Aldridge (WHITESNAKE),and guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES),Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG) and Nita Strauss (ALICE COOPER). The project was conceived by renowned producer Mike Clink, who has produced classic recordings for GUNS N' ROSES, MÖTLEY CRÜE and WHITESNAKE.