Product: Night of Triumph [VHS]
Rating: 3.0
Brings back memories of the band live..........or were they?
I saw Triumph live on their "Thunder Seven" tour and I thought the musicianship and showmanship was very good. Our seats were midway toward the back of the arena so we were able to appreciate their famous light show. Choice of songs seemed OK at the time, should have added some, should have omitted others but overall a decent concert. I saw this DVD and thought that I would take a chance. Flash back to '86, give or take a year when Triumph had already peaked and were coming down in the US, not sure about Canada where this was filmed. Their choice of clothes were awful, even for back then. What were they doing, picking out clothes in the dark? The only guy who looks good is the hired keyboardist/guitarist for the tour. Again, not the greatest song list either. Why do "Rocky Mountain Way" over one of their own? There has never been a question whether Rik Emmett can play his guitar, but he just looks so uninspired as well as the rest of the band. Are they playing to the cameras or to the crowd. The closeups of them onstage look fake, like filming this on the stage alone during soundcheck, then adding the audience shots later. Gil Moore doesn't seem to break a sweat or is excited to be playing live. Mike Levine's in between song banter is just so cliched. Emmett's guitar facial expressions seem so rehearsed and fake, never getting near the audience. The sound here is good but the video portion of this band in concert is just hard to enjoy while watching. Great video quality, just not a very enthused TRIUMPH up on the stage. I recommend this for the true TRIUMPH fanatic but anyone with just a casual interest, get the US festival show instead. I know that one was a real concert. I am not sure about this one.