By Steve Newton
Longtime Triumph fans will remember back in the late ’80s when guitarist Rik Emmett shocked the Canuck-rock world by splitting up with bassist Mike Levine and drummer Gil Moore and releasing his first solo album, Absolutely.
The musicians who played on that 1990 disc–which went gold in Canada–included saxophonist Colleen Allen, keyboardist David Tkaczuck, bassist Chris Brockway, and drummer Randy Cooke.
Six months after Absolutely hit the record racks Emmett brought a band featuring all four of those stellar players–plus hot-shot guitarist Sil Simone–to Vancouver for two shows at the 86 Street Music Hall on October 11 and 12, with guest Andy Curran from Coney Hatch.
Producer/engineer Larry Anschell of Turtle Recording Studios was there as well, capturing the October 12 gig for a live radio broadcast.
From the sound of things the group was smokin’ hot, performing a mix of tracks from Absolutely–including the singles “Big Lie” and “When a Heart Breaks”–and the Emmett-penned Triumph hits “Lay It on the Line”, “Hold On”, and “Magic Power”.
I like how Emmett–or maybe it was Simone–wah-wah pedaled a bit of “Suzie Q” into the guitar solo on “Big Lie”.
Have a listen:
If you enjoy this one, Anschell has previously given Ear of Newt exclusive access to full Vancouver concerts he’s recorded around the same time by Jeff Healey, Pat Travers, and Paul Rodgers (with Neal Schon on guitar!).
To hear the full audio of my 1990 interview with Rik Emmett–and my 1985 interview with him when he was still in Triumph–subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.