Triumphant Home Town Double Feature!

January's bitter cold snap was interrupted by a heat wave. 

Starting with multi Award-winning vocalist Michael Bell bringing his incredible 6 piece all-star band of masterful musicians, once again, to his birth place Toronto, for a back by popular demand performance, at Sam Grosso's Cadillac Lounge Sat. January 26th, 2019.  This was Bowie Lives 3rd sold out visit to Parkdale's live entertainment venue, truly a crowd favourite.  They totally kept the songs and spirit of David Bowie alive as they engaged their fans with 4 decades of David Bowie hits, filling the dance floor as patrons put on their red shoes and danced the blues all night long.  Bowie Lives conjured a bang on performance with Let's Dance, Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust, Hero’s, Ashes to Ashes, Fashion, China Girl, Modern Love just to name but a few.  Bell shared how the next hit created him musically as he burst into The Man Who Sold The World and how Changes described his life as he continues to evolve. Stay tuned Niagara Falls as Bowie Lives returns to Seneca Queen Theatre on May 11th at 8pm, a popular demand performance.  Don't delay call 905 353 9461 or visit tickets@senecaqueen.ca to pick up your $27.25 tickets today.   
Stay in tune at www.thebowielives.com
Left to Right:  Dave Dunlop & Rik Emmett
Hugh's Room Live proudly presented an explosive evening of stellar proportions featuring internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning gold and platinum guitarist, singer, songwriter, recording artist, educator, consultant, cartoonist, columnist and author Rik Emmett alongside the extremely gifted guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer/engineer Dave Dunlop.  Canada's well-known duo, Strung Out Troubadours or Troubs for short, brought their Triumphant magic to the legendary stage with two sold out back to back nights, January 26-27th, 2019, marking this a home town show for Rik and their 12th Hugh's Room performance by popular demand and their 1st return since Dec.5th, 2015.  Rik's instrumental duo performances together with Dave has been entertaining fans worldwide for over 23 years and it was a bit of a shock to hear that the Walk of Fame, Canadian Rock/Music Industry/JUNO Hall of Famer Rik Emmett was perfecting his last gig for 2019, as he will be taking a few months off.  They laid out a showcase laced with impeccable acoustic sounds so breathtakingly cerebral melded with harmonically enriched vocals and their extravagant instrumental genius, proving to be a rousing showcase rich in complexity, a true introspective delight.   Their voluptuous tenor voices captivated the jam-packed venue letting the audience take over on quite a few crowd favourites depositing goosebumps.  Each selected piece on the setlist had a story to be told with tons of humour, as they dove deep into Triumph's extensive #1 hits catalogue spanning half a century. 
Rik Emmett (below) 

The one-of-a-kind presentation told us to Hold On so they could Lay It On The Line.
The Good Book says it's better to give than to receive.  I do my best to do my part, nothin' in my pockets I got nothin' up my sleeve.  I keep my magic in my heart, keep up your spirit, keep up your faith. "It’s a humanistic way, you pick your battles, whatever your battle, fight the good fight," said Rik Emmett, as they struck right into Triumph’s Athemn Fight the Good Fight.  Somebody’s Out There was my favourite of the night and story tells that label requested a ‘hit’ to be written and recorded with a tight time frame of only a few weeks.  Rik wrote it and brought it to the band and told them to “just play it as it is” as the time was restraint and it was added on the album last minute and turned out to be their highest charted and their biggest selling hit.   Their acoustic arrangements of legendary songs sounded a strong dose of John Mayer meets Mark Knoffler.  You could hear a pin drop as they projected masterpiece after masterpiece while hypnotizing the audience, but the song ends, and you are deafened by the love and shouts of praise.    Rik and Dave also delivered textures and invigorating classical Latin guitar sounds like Petite Etude and Libre Animado from both Triumph and Rik's solo career.  They showed us that the Troubs were still Red Hot at the Light of Day and even featured Dave's exhilarating Monarch Girl.  
Dave Dunlop (below) 

Their feel-good showcase engaged the audience with Dave's sing-a-long consisting of the right cover mixture, The Cars - Just What I Needed right into a salute to Tom Petty with Free Falling, splitting up the verses and voices of the women versus the men, so much fun!  Rounding out the latter part of the show giving us a Midsummer's Daydream as 3 Clouds Across the Moon brought on a Magic Power.   A standing ovation and thunderous applause permitted 1 more song from Triumph's 3rd album-Just a Game giving us the iconic Suitcase Blues as the encore, which is Rik’s P.S. song.  
Rik Emmett (below)
To capture Rik Emmett's true essence is like capturing an infinite measure, both a creative workbook and an authoritative musical reference. Their stage presence is profoundly moving and a pertinent one.  This was a stellar showcase filled with perfected measurement of rhythm alongside Rik and Dave's supportive harmony.  At 65, Rik was in rare and rejuvenated form, still exuding high energy with infectious adrenaline, proving he will forever play a crucial role in defining the sound of not only hard rock culture but, smooth jazz too.  We were thrilled to be a part of the audiences impressive loud and proud responsive energy...totally PRICELESS!  Stay in tune with:



January 27th, 2019 SET LIST:

1.    Hold On – Triumph –  3rd Studio Album-Just a Game

2.    Petite Etude – Triumph – 5th Studio Album – Allied Forces

3.    Lay It On The Line – Triumph – 3rd Studio Album – Just a Game

4.    Libre Animado – Rik Emmett – 9th Studio Album – Handiwork

5.    Light of Day – Strung-Out Troubadours 1st Album - (self titled)

6.    Ordinary Man – Triumph – 5th Studio Album - Allied Forces

7.    Monarch Girl – Dave Dunlop 11th Studio Album, 1st solo album for Dave.

8.    Fight the Good Fight – Triumph’s 5th Studio Album – Allied Forces

9.    Somebody’s Out There – Triumph’s 8th Studio Album – The Sport of Kings.

10. Red Hot – Strung-Out Troubadours 2009 – 3rd Studio Album-Push & Pull.

11. Midsummer’s Day Dream –Triumph– 7thAlbum–Thunder Seven Rik Emmett.

12. 3 Clouds Across the Moon – Rik Emmett – 5th Studio Album – Swing Shift

13. Magic Power – Triumph – 5th Studio Album-Allied Forces

14. ENCORE - Suitcase Blues – Triumph’s 3rd Studio Album-Just a Game



By Deb Draper  ~ 5 year volunteer Photojournalist ~ Seeing Shows Columnist for The Wire Megazine. 


Photo by Iconic Photographer John Rowlands www.rocknrowlands.com 




















































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