TRIUMPH: ROCK & ROLL MACHINE is a fist-pumping tribute to the Canadian rock trio – TIFF review

After unleashing documentaries on the likes of Iron Maiden and Rush, director Sam Dunn and co-director Marc Ricciardelli set their sights on another Canadian rock trio with Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine, which premiered at TIFF earlier this week.

For those that weren’t driving around blasting the band out of their Camaro in the ’70s, Triumph is a rock trio from Toronto that mixed the musicianship of fellow Canucks Rush with the showmanship and pyro-heavy stage show of Kiss. That unique combination (and some incredibly shrewd marketing skills on the band’s part) launched Triumph into the hard rock stratosphere during their late ’70s-’80s heyday. From sold-out arena tours around the world to a memorable performance at the massive U.S. Festival in 1983 alongside Van Halen and Ozzy Osbourne, Triumph was one of the most popular rock bands of the era. And then they simply disappeared.

Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine is a wildly entertaining look at how the band (drummer/singer Gil Moore, singer/guitarist Rik Emmett, and bassist/keyboardist Mike Levine) set their sights on becoming the biggest band in the world, and how they actually made that dream happen. It’s a tale of incredible talent, great timing, and a heaping of chutzpah on the part of three mild-mannered Canadian rockers who made it to the top of the rock landscape before eventually imploding due to personal and creative differences.

The film follows two tracks simultaneously as the band members, fans, and fellow metal and rock luminaries (including an incredibly charismatic Sebastian Bach and the Trailer Park Boys) detail the band’s impact and eventual break-up. Meanwhile, we see the band members sneakily preparing for their first show in ages, a surprise gig during a fan event at Metal Works Studios in Mississauga, Ontario (a massively successful recording studio run by Triumph’s Gil Moore).

Superbly edited and with some fun animation breaks to keeps things moving along, Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine is a fist-pumping tribute to a band that deserves to be in the conversation as one of the greatest rock outfits of their era. The band members still seem truly blown away by what they managed to achieve, and their winning personalities combined with the diehard enthusiasm of their fans is what makes Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine so memorable and touching.