How Triumph’s Reunion Tour Happened

On the eve of the announcement of Triumph’s 2026 reunion tour — their first proper run in over 30 years — we got on Zoom with vocalist and guitarist Rik Emmett, drummer and vocalist Gil Moore and bassist Mike Levine to find out how the trek came together and share a bit of what fans can expect.

Though Triumph has regrouped for a few different performances in recent years, as you’ll read below — and two full concerts in Sweden and Oklahoma in 2008, this will be their first full-fledged outing since 1993. Notably, it will also be the first time that Moore and Levine have hit the road with Emmett since 1988. Speaking with all three members, it was clear that there’s a lot to look forward to.

Today’s announcement is a bucket list kind of thing for fans, But for years, the idea of a reunion tour has seemingly been off the table and you all have been very transparent about that. What changed?
Gil Moore: It’s serendipity. There’s no one specific thing [which made it finally happen]. I would say it’s the rising tide of fans reflecting on how songs that Triumph played affected them in their life. The more time goes by, the more of these stories you hear and the more compelling they are, or in some cases, heart-wrenching. And so there’s that cumulative effect that we’re experiencing.

Also, I would say that it’s across the backdrop of what we’re seeing develop in communities and in societies around the world, both with the terrible things of man’s inhumanity to man transpiring in various regions, combined with the fantastic breakthroughs in science and breakthroughs in technology. So these massive changes in the world, I think there’s just a consensus that we felt like maybe we need to listen to our fans. They took the songs, they’re their songs.

We may have recorded them and written them, but they’re their songs, and they’re sending us a strong message. They want to hear them again, so it’s the least I think we can do to give it our best shot. You know, it may not be perfect, but what’s perfect anyway? We’re a rock and roll band. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to light it up absolutely the best way we know how.

Watch Triumph Perform ‘Allied Forces’ Live

Rik Emmett: You prefaced the question by saying [that it’s a] bucket list thing for people, I think that we’re anticipating that energy as something that’s going to make it a special thing for us, an interesting thing, you know — and an inspiring, motivating, energizing thing. But if you’re asking me right now, I think I’m shitting my pants, What have I said yes to? Oh no! You know, it’s a big mountain to climb. I”m 72 years old. I’m going to need guys like Matt Wardlaw to make me feel like I can do this [and] I can make this happen.

I do want to make sure that Triumph fans understand that Gil Moore never stops cooking and planning ideas for blowing up the world, in his own inimitable fashion, through Triumph. He’s always thinking about, “Hey, what if we did this? What if we did that?” I think it’s his life. He’s got a production company, he’s got a school, he’s got a studio, he’s always around this stuff that there’s, I think, more energy to drive him back out on the road than me and Mike, you know. So from the inside out, there’s always that little bit of mental energy and push.

What’s the timeline on this? How did things begin?
Moore: Putting the band back together started with, you know, a bad idea that I had, but you have to start somewhere. Our lighting director, Paul Dexter, from back in the day, was at the forefront of [a] sort of 3D technology. He had done a hologram tour [honoring] Ronnie James Dio from Black Sabbath, and then he did another one [honoring] Frank Zappa. I went to see the Zappa tour and looked at what was going on. Then we chatted and and I told him, I said, “This wouldn’t work for Triumph.”

He agreed with me. And even though it was really cool, what he was doing with Frank Zappa, I will say, and with Ronnie, wouldn’t work for Triumph. So we set out on a voyage, a technical voyage, to try to figure out what would work. And we sort of found ourselves in this world of mixed reality, which we’ve developed now for six years, and we’ve changed many aspects of the technology as technology has changed. Because, as you know, whatever you knew six months ago is now somewhat obsolete. There’s a new sheriff in town, technically.

The other thing that happened is, again, well, there’s that backdrop, but then we get this kind of really cool thing where hockey is such a big thing up here in Canada. “Lay it on the Line” was selected by the NHL and the National Sports Networkl, Rogers and that whole MLSE organization. They all just simultaneously seemed to jump on “Lay it on the Line,” which then [led to the question], “Well, would you guys come and play for an NHL game?”

When I was a kid myself, being in the NHL, that was always my goal. I didn’t want to be a musician, I wanted to be a hot left winger. I thought, “This is going to be really cool.” It gave us a shot to try playing with some of the new musicians that we wanted to play with and bring Phil back into the band. I figured Phil X and Rik Emmett, that’s a double-barreled shotgun, if I ever saw one. We went out and played there and that sort of lights up Live Nation.

Live Nation shows up at the party and says, “We need to do a tour.” Again, the fans, their reaction to the whole hockey thing, it kind of gets at you and you feel like, “Well, it’s now or never, maybe this needs to happen.” Paul’s technology is really cooking now. We’re going to be able to do some really cool theatrical moments on stage. It was just like, okay, I think it’s time to light the fuse. It just seemed right.

Listen to Triumph’s ‘Hold On’

Rik, it seems like the Edmonton performance in June with Phil X, Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz would have been really interesting for you, three guys you have had very little experience with prior to that. It’s fascinating to get in a room with a situation like that and see what comes out.
Emmett: It was and, and you know, there’s a terrifying part of it, because you’re flying by the seat of your pants. You know, we had one rehearsal, essentially, before we went and did three songs, so there was an element there of, “Oh my god, this is terrifying!” But Dave Dunlop [one of Emmett’s longtime collaborators who also performed with the group in Sweden and Oklahoma in 2008] and I, we played Triumph songs for decades, you know. Like every night, we had to get up and do “Magic Power” and “Fight the Good Fight.” We made an album [in that] acoustic duo [style] with keyboard supplements, of the Triumph stuff, because we played them every night.

So that stuff, when you’re rehearsing with new guys, I go, “Hey, here’s a shortcut to something good in a Triumph song that Dave Dunlop and I figured out, this will be good.” So in the rehearsal, Dunlop’s not there, but I’m taking advantage of the time that I’ve worked with him in order to get to a place with Phil in a hurry. We recently did a thing where we played [when] Triumph got inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and we played with a house band. It was me and Phil with a house band.  With “Lay it on the Line,” I was going, “Okay, we can do something here with the tag where Phil and I can trade [guitar lines], like Allman Brothers kind of stuff.

In the one rehearsal that we were going to do for the Hall of Fame thing, [I would not] have had the guts to say, “Hey Phil, let’s try this.” But because of my experience with Dave, it was like, “Let’s give this a shot. I know this is going to work. This is going to really be a cool moment.” And it was. At the end of it, Phil does his thing and it puts the cherry on the top. I’m looking forward to the rehearsal process for the new set, because I know there will be things that will happen that will be just kicking my ass in a very good way. [Emmett chuckles]

Mike, you were not able to be part of the Edmonton performance. What has it been like for you watching this take shape the way it has?
Mike Levine: I’ve been looking at the want ads in the newspapers, looking for a job. No, I think it’s fantastic, what’s been going on. Obviously, I had the experience with Phil many years ago. He’s a phenomenal guy and a phenomenal player. Putting it back together is unbelievable. Living with Gil for the last six years, talking about this and then getting interrupted by COVID and then getting interrupted by something else, it’s been a very long and drawn out pathway, really. I guess I get to be concertmaster here, now and then, so that’s going to be a lot of fun.

What’s your involvement going to be with the shows?
I’m looking forward to it. When I can, I plan to be at shows. When I can’t, I’ll be there virtually. So it’s not like I’m going to be down at Joe’s Bar playing trivia with my buddies or something. All of this is going to be an involvement that I’ll be very happy with.

This tour celebrates the 50th anniversary of the band. How do you look back on that time period and that first album?
Levine: I guess we recorded all the songs we had, pretty much. I don’t think we had anything else to record. We didn’t have any boundaries, and we’re still early enough in the whole FM progressive hard rock arena, so to speak, on the airwaves, that you could pretty much get away with anything, if it was good enough. So, we weren’t really overly concerned that there was some good heavy rock on “Street Fighter,” and “24 Hours a Day,” when it rocked. But you know, “Blinding Light Show” is on there too. It was like, “We’re making an album. We’ve been together less than a year and we’re making a goddamn album in a first class studio.” So life was good. It couldn’t get much better than that.

Listen to Triumph’s ‘Blinding Light Show’

Gil, it’s kind of cool that you have Phil X as part of this. That element helps to bring closure to both eras of Triumph and that feels pretty good, I would imagine.
Moore: Yeah, you’d have to say Mike and I are pretty good at picking guitar players, wouldn’t you?

That’s a great point.
The important thing, Matt, was for them to play together. That’s what I was I couldn’t wait for because, you know, I just thought the two of them together would be like rocket fuel. And that’s pretty much what happened. It was nice to watch from back on the drum kit. I can tell you that.

READ MORE: Triumph Announces 2026 Reunion Tour Dates

Watch Triumph Perform Live at the US Festival in 1983