CONCERT REVIEW: Triumph proves ‘Somebody’s Out There’ that still cares about live rock

Published 11:42 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Back in 1975, three guys in Ontario got together and started hitting stages in clubs and high schools, bringing together elements of rock and classical music to create something their own. They called themselves Triumph, predicting, or manifesting, their own success.

More than half a century later, Triumph is making a, well, triumphant return. One of those three guys made the choice to watch from the sidelines, and the other two brought some additional support on the road with them, and as a five-piece act, Triumph delivered on that manifestation Sunday night at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Mo.

The lineup for the show was a diplomatic mission from our northern neighbors, with Nova Scotia-based April Wine getting the show kicked into high gear. Even though the original roster for the band has passed the torch, guitarist Brian Greenway as been carrying the banner for nearly 50 years at this point.

Greenway is joined onstage by Roy “Nip” Nichol behind the kit, Richard Lantheir on the bass, and Marc Parent up front on vocals. But even as the faces and sounds are different than they once were, the songs remain the stock-standard, raw and real rock music that’s lived in our universe as a foundation that gave birth to the later rock scenes.

The set kicked off with “I Like to Rock” and “Big City Girls,” getting the crowd screaming from the jump. With a 10-song, 40-minute set, April Wine set the tone for the night. It wasn’t about strobe lights and jets of fire or big hair and costumes. The guitar and bass and drums and belted vocals took center stage, the essence of rock and roll.

The set closed out with the band’s cover of “Sign of the Gypsy Queen” and “Rollers,” wrapping up a great kickoff to an epic night.

When the house lights went down, the giant wall at the back of the stage lit up with a video time-capsule tracking the path Triumph has taken over the past five decades, from logos to album covers to band photos. The sequence wraps up with images of the original members as they were when the band started before the photos morph to the modern visages of the trio.

Co-founder Mike Levine opted to sit out this road-trip, but Rik Emmett on guitars and vocals Gil Moore behind the drums and sharing vocal duties showed that they have every reason to carry on with the name they picked in 1975.

To take the show on the road, the band assembled an all-star roster of musicians to fill out the stage. Phil X, a former member of Triumph himself and Bon Jovi’s current lead axe-man takes the stage-right position with his guitar-work. Todd Kerns, who has played with everyone from Faster Pussycat to Slash and Miles Kennedy as part of the Conspirators brought his bass kit along with his own vocal skills to the tour. Finally, Brent Fitz, a fellow Conspirator who has also played with Gilby Clarke, Bruce Kulick, and Phil X’s solo work, joins up with a number of roles, including a second drum kit his keyboard system to fill out the sound.

The set for Sunday’s show brought out hit after hit, from the appropriate opener of “When the Lights Go Down” into “Somebody’s Out There” through a cover of Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Hold On.”

As one might expect with a headline set, there was more flash and bang in Triumph’s set over the opener, with some pyro hits and fantasy animation on the video wall, but these element are garnishes to sprinkle on top of the meat and potatoes of same down-to-Earth guitar/bass/drum core of the music.

The Amphitheater sold the show as a bowl-only show for the third show in as many nights, keeping the lawn clear but packing the crowd into the seats. The average age of the audience may have skewed a little higher, but the energy was true young-at-heart vibes flowing straight to the stage. There were plenty of glory days being relived and after the final encore of the show, made up of “I Live for the Weekend” and “Fight the Good Fight,” faded out, the crowd was going to carry that energy with them.

Triumph’s “Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded” tour rolls on into June with stops in Texas before moving to the southeast and then making way up the east coast before wrapping up closer to home in Laval, Quebec on June 10. If you want to find out where the band goes next or for any news going forward, check out triumphmusic.com for all the latest.