I've been off the board for a little while. I see some things haven't changed. Snarky - I like that.
Just a quick sidenote on Dave Dunlop playing with Triumph. During the beginning stages of rehersals for the Sweden show, Rik, Gil and Dave were working on the arrangements of some of the songs they are going to perform. Apparently, as Rik and Gil were taking the lead on the arrangments, Dave pointed out to them that they were not correct. Dave had learned to play Triumph songs by listening to the original arrangements, the way they were recorded. Rik and Gil fell into step with how the songs had been performed live in the past, without ever revisting the recordings. This, apparently, prompted Rik to make the comment that they had been playing their own songs wrong for the many years they had been touring. So, from that standpoint, Dave had already had a positive impact on the reunion.
That bit of info was provided via Rik's message board. Although, most of the rehersal scuttlebutt is being kept quite hush-hush.
I wonder what songs they were talkiing about. This is nothing new to my hears.
Listening to them live was never like listening to the album. There are many songs they played that wasn't exactly like the album version. I just figured they did this on purpose.
As far as back up musicians under the stage etc... T never did that. I've listened to a lot of Triumph boots from the early days. And it's -always- clearly one guitar, bass, drums, two voices and keyboards -only- when Mike is not playing bass.
Side musicians started with Santers and of course they were very open about his playing with them.
I would have preferred the trio, I'm partial to trios and I'm one of those who thought the live sound was better without Santers. But who's complaining? They toured as a four piece the last -three- tours (counting EoE) so this is hardly a shock, especially since Gil and Mike are probably still a bit rusty.
I'll feel a lot better about it if they use Dunlop as an excuse to pull out some stuff (Hold On, Just A Game... maybe? Nah... I wish, though!!) that would be tough to do as a trio. I would guess we'll get a pretty typical greatest hits package. Since they've been away so long, though, I'd wish they'd use that as a justification to say "screw it" and do a more eclectic set list. (One can always dream, eh?)
One good thing about Dunlop, I don't believe he plays keyboards like Santers, which I felt there was a little too much of on the last tours. Triumph doesn't need them, beyond the bits that Mike does. He should make the harmonies better, which is a plus. Gil and Rik have such different voices, one weakness of T live is that the harmonies were always weak (or non-existent) compared to the studio versions.
My guess is that overall, this will be a great show, in any case.
Mike would probably play the keyboard intros.
Like the old days.
Hank
Drew:I read just today that Dave will be playing guitar only, there wont be any keyboard oriented tunes.
I think Santers did the Keyboards to Somebody's Out There...so I think that one might be out now, or they'll play it w/o keys? who knows
This is not necessary. Especially now. The three of them have enough to do to make sure they all get along and stay together. Having a 4th member will only hinder and complicate communication.
Triumph is a trio!
The vocals? No. If anything, T's vocals did suffer live and it was noticeable on certain songs. Keyboards? You only rarely hear them when Mike is not playing bass. And when you do, it's some very basic chord pad that Mike could easily have set before he went back to hacking at his bass.
Triumph was and probably still is completely capable of pulling off a great show just with the three of them. Given that the guys are not as agile as in their youth, a fourth guy now helps to fill the stage a bit, amongst other things.
I think Dave fits in better than Santers, who was a -little- too much like a glam rocker for my tastes ('course, it was during T' glam period...) and was also a little too liberal with the keys. (though he was just playing what was there on the records, for the most part)
I agree with you BassPlayinBri. For sure they have some kinks to work out..no big deal, it has been a long time. And as far as having someone behind the scenes playing rythm, I don't think Triumph ever did this in the past at all, but realized as time went on (Live in Halifax DVD with Santers) that it would probably sound better with the extra player, so they did so openly. As for Santers looking GLAM..did you see those multi-colored tights Rik had on in that concert, and the fluffy white top..he he..funny stuff to see now, but was perfect for it's time...Just like you stated, it was just the era...funny stuff.
I did notice Santers signing some backup stuff during that show, although I'm not sure they needed it, as they are powerful enough to get the sound with just the 3 of them vocally.
All in all..TRIUMPH IS BACK. And that is all I care about. We are lucky enough to have all 3 of them, as some bands re-unite and only have partial original members in the line-up. Imagine if Rik and Mike got back together with a different drummer other than Gil...we are lucky!
Now, they just have to come back to Halifax.