The year was 1990 or maybe it was 91, things were a bit fuzzy back in the day. The place was two Bloor St. East, in the basement of a 34-storey office building in the very heart of Toronto. I was standing in rock and roll heaven! Literally! That was the name of one of Toronto’s hottest clubs at the time. It was hosted by Q-107, one of Toronto’s hottest rock stations (located in the same building but way up near the top floor) and all the coolest bar bands played there.

On the night in question, former Triumph front man and lead guitarist Rik Emmett was unleashing ‘Absolutely’, his debut solo album. If I was any closer to the stage I would have been on it. A night I won’t forget.

In the late 70’s and early 80’s Triumph was huge in Canada with six Gold and four platinum albums but Triumph never duplicated their success in the all important but oh so annoying American market. Why is a mystery to me because he and fellow band mate Gil Moore were both gifted singers and songwriters equal if not better then many of their contemporaries.

When Emmett left Triumph, a lot of fans were choked. His new direction was decidedly more eclectic than Triumph’s straight forward arena rock sound. Again this didn’t bode well with fans especially with the mellow hits like, ‘When a Heart Breaks’. Despite the bands bitter divorce, ‘Absolutely’ still went gold in Canada. By then however, multi-platinum was the new industry standard and ultimately this master piece of writing, arrangement and production flew under the radar with the best, longer tracks getting little air play. Check out this tune. In my mind this is one of the most astounding rock anthems of all time and I will be god damned if they didn’t play it note for note perfect that night in Rock and Roll Heaven nearly twenty years ago, ‘Stand and Deliver’ (studio version):

Stand and Deliver

Wicked, yes?

A lot of my friends at the time were saying that Rik was selling out. I didn’t see it that way at all. Rik had the foresight to realize that it wouldn’t be too long before he was going to start looking silly wearing spandex. Rik grew up! He began to explore other styles that would continue to challenge him and his loyal fans. He spent a while doing some jazz thangs… here he is with Dave Dunlop doing a gorgeous duo called Sante Fe Horizon:

Sante Fe Horizon

Sometime between his (still ongoing sort of) jazz period and now, Rik has been writing for Guitar Player magazine, designing courses and teaching music for college kids and forming a new band, Pavlo, Rik Emmett and Oscar Lopez, but you can call them P.R.O. for short. P.R.O. was playing a sold out show here in Kelowna last Thursday but the funny thing is I didn’t hear a thing about it on the radio. I would have missed it if I hadn’t passed by a poster hanging in town somewhere a while back. Here is this Canadian Rock Hall of famer, guitar god coming to a not so big city like Kelowna and well, you’d think the media would be talking it up. I don’t get it.

For those of you who didn’t here about this show, here’s a sample of what you missed:

Trifecta, Pavlo, Rik Emmett & Oscar Lopez @ City TV Interview & Performance

That’s from P.R.O.’s debut CD entitled Trifecta. If you are a guitar aficionado or just a lover of incredibly good music, then you need this for your collection.

I don’t think anyone was expecting Triumph unplugged. I think it’s safe to say the audience knew that this was to be an evening of classical instrumentals but these three amazing musicians are also performers of the highest stripe. Spinning wild and weird tales from their various back grounds, joking around with the audience and with each other and even throwing in some vocal performances including an old Triumph hit, Lay it on the Line. I didn’t mean to spend most of the article talking about Rik Emmett because Pavlo and Oscar Lopez are equally as talented as Rik but with their own distinct styles and that’s what makes this trio truly outstanding.

No this wasn’t the Rock and Roll heaven of old, it was a brand new heaven and I got to hang out for a night. Ya shoulda been there!