Triumph Credit: Courtesy

Canadian hard rock heroes Triumph are back together and poised to play a run of shows in the U.S. for the first time in several decades (picked a heck of a time, gents!) for their Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded Tour. Living up to their moniker, everything does seem to be coming up rather triumphantly for the band: an expanded live lineup that includes both original members Gil Moore and Rik Emmett alongside more recent musical comrades, a documentary (Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine), a tribute album (Magic Power: All Star Tribute to Triumph), a reunion gig at the Stanley Cup finals and now this tour. Orlando has the bragging rights of scoring the first show on the tour and, even better, it’s a benefit show for the Make a Wish Foundation. Orlando Weekly talked to spry 73-year-old drummer-singer Moore about the show, the tour and more.

So this is your first North American tour in a few decades. The original trio lineup is back together, and there’s an expanded live group. How did all these various pieces come together?

We did some Hall of Fame inductions up here, which got a lot of traction up in Canada. Shortly thereafter, there was a documentary film made on the band, and a tribute album was lined up. We didn’t know how well that was going to go, but they hired [producer] Mike Clink. Mike is one of the top, if not the top, hard rock guys from that era [the 1980s] in the world. He’s most famous for Guns N’ Roses, but he’s done Triumph, he has a long, long resumé. So of course, he knows everybody, and the tribute album, it just featured so many greats like Nancy from Heart, Lawrence Gowan from Styx and Joey Belladonna from Anthrax.

But not long after the tribute album, we were up in Canada. You may have been aware of this because of the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup, but … they decided, for whatever reason this year because of all the hubbub about Triumph, they started using Triumph music in all their commercials, and they started using Triumph in the game. Like somebody scores a goal, they play a Triumph song, that kind of thing. Then they came to our managers and said, “Look, it’s down to the Oilers and the Panthers for the Stanley Cup, we’d really like Triumph to play at the finals.” So they called me, and at first I was like, “This is crazy, we haven’t played in so long and we don’t have a group together.” I called Rik and Mike [Levine], Mike couldn’t come, but Rik and I just decided to do it.

We all go into Edmonton, no rehearsals, nothing. We just show up. It’s just for sort of a lark. And we had one day to rehearse, which is not enough, of course, but we just decided to do a Hail Mary pass, and the band just got along great, my family were excited and then Live Nation caught wind of it. And, you know, I just felt like, “OK, if everybody’s just excited, OK, maybe this is a good idea.”

Tell me a little bit about putting the setlist together for the tour.

I think we relied on the fans … You really don’t know what your music is until decades go by, because that’s when it resonates on the fans. And then they tell you, so as far as like setting up, you know what we want to do on the road, we’ve been listening for what the fans have to say, and they’ve spoken loud and clear to us.

Honestly, after all these years, I feel like they’re their songs. They’re not ours anymore. We gave them to the fans. They told us what those songs meant, and we’re answering to the call.

Talk about the chain of events that led to kicking off the tour here in Orlando. I know it’s a Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser.

It wasn’t something that was initially planned. How it came together was Styx have played at a Make-A-Wish event previously, and Lawrence Gowan is one of my dearest friends. When we decided we were going to tour, he was actually one of the very first people I phoned and he said, “Gil, great to hear from you. What do you want to know?” And I said, “Hey, man, you’ve been touring, and I haven’t I want to know how to tour.”

He says, “OK, I’m going to give you three pointers. Are you ready? You got to play drums and sing every day. That’s number one. Number two: You’ve got to play drums and sing every day. Number three, don’t forget number one and number two.” And I just cracked up. And then you know, little stuff for vocal warm-ups, how he does the scales, how he manages bus travel versus airline travel. What he does diet-wise to be really at game time, really, feel like he has all his energy when it’s time to go on stage and Styx. I mean, he is like a powerhouse to be reckoned with, and I really thank him for that and it helped get Rik and I tour-ready. And Lawrence said to Jeff Ippoliti, who is at the Celebration Car Show [also a key fundraiser for central Florida’s Make-A-Wish Foundation], “I have a great idea for you, you should get triumph this year. And Jeff goes, “I’m a huge Triumph fan, but they’re not touring.” And Lawrence says, “Oh yes they are.”

So I talked to Jeff, and he told me about the Make-A-Wish event, which is near and dear to me. I have a charity of my own in Canada called Sounds Unite, which is a tiny bit similar in the sense that it’s about free music, education and music wellness. But it’s aimed at kids, and especially kids that are disadvantaged and marginalized. So the Make-A-Wish philosophy of helping a young person who’s really caught a tough break in life, and grant them a wish is, to me, a fabulous idea.

So I just told Jeff. I said, “Yeah, we’d love to support Make-A-Wish, if you’d like us.” We were looking to rehearse more dates up here in Canada in that time period when he wanted to bring us to Florida. And everybody was like, “Oh, no, we’re gonna rehearse in Florida.” So that was a sweetener. So that’s how it came together.

Do you have any good or bad memories about playing Florida in the past?

Oh, they’re all good because I’m a golfer! … So it’s always a big thrill to come to Florida. I think this time though, I’m so busy practicing and getting ready, I may just make it to the driving range. I don’t know that I’ll actually get time to get out on the golf course, but we’ll see. I got the clubs ready, just in case.

Are there any butterflies about going on an extensive United States tour after so long?

I think I had butterflies initially, and then the more I practiced and played with the guys and worked out in the gym, it’s kind of a mind over matter. Hopefully, you know, being a little older, you’re a little smarter. So the way I’ve approached drums on this tour, instead of just picking up where I left off and letting the old drummer’s brain make all the decisions … I hired a drum instructor. Because I have a school of my own in my recording studios Metalworks; we have a sound and lighting company division, and then we also have a school. In the school, I have all these great teachers. During my first lesson, he said, “Well, what do you want to know?” And I said, “I want you to pretend I’m 8 years old and I’ve never played drums. Let’s start there.” Like, how do you want me to sit and like, how do I hold the sticks? And so basically, it’s about contemplating how you deliver rhythm more than anything. And he did change my grip, which changed my stick technique. So that was good, because that helped me develop a new approach to stick control. And then on the on the rhythm side, I’ve just worked harder to be more creative. And reinvent the way I think about rhythm.

What motivates you creatively in 2026, and how is that different from what motivated you in 1975?

Well, I think in 1975, you’re a kid and you’re full of piss and vinegar. In all odds we’re never going to get beyond playing the church basement. … We played our first gig at a high school dance, and the audience just like, right away, like they were crowding the stage; you could just see there was like a reaction I’ve never had, Rick never had and Mike had never had in any of our previous bands. So we came off stage after playing the show, and we went, “Holy crap.” it really was lightning in a bottle. … The next thing you know, we bypass the bars. Next thing you know, we’re in small theaters. The next thing you know, we’re in arenas. And it was really quick. And once we got into the arenas, we never looked back.

But now the motivation, I think it’s for me my biggest reward from doing this is seeing the smiles on my family’s face, my three kids and my wife and my granddaughter, and just seeing them light up and be so excited. That would be number one. And the fans, because they’re that’s what drives it. I mean, if those fans weren’t there and they weren’t as excited as they were, it wouldn’t be as much fun for my family. So I just love that enthusiasm.

8 p.m. Friday, April 10, Hard Rock Live, 6050 Universal Blvd., entertainment.hardrock.com, SOLD OUT.

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