Triumph frontman, Rik Emmett, published his new memoir, Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph, on October 10 via ECW Press.
In an exclusive interview with Greg Prato for Ultimate-Guitar.com, Emmett talks about "Heavy Metal Day" at the legendary US Festival, held at Glen Helen Regional Park near Devore, San Bernardino, California on May 29, 1983.
When told by UG, "This year marks 40 years since Triumph's performance at the US Festival - I was reading some comments online recently, and it seems like a lot of people feel that Triumph stole the show that day," Emmett was quite candid in his reply - and also shared his memories of the day.
"First of all, there weren't a lot of other bands that I saw - we took a helicopter in and played the show. I saw a little bit of the band in front of us - that was Judas Priest. And they sounded OK to me. It was a really hot day, and it was really dusty, and they were in their leather and studs and rode their Harley up on stage. I remember thinking, 'Man. Hot day for them. Glad I don't necessarily have to be dressed up in all that stuff.' But they sounded OK to me.
"And the Scorpions were after us. I saw them, and I thought they sounded really good. They sounded really tight, and they played really well. I'd never seen them before, and I even thought their harmony singing was good, and the twin guitars were killer. I always liked twin guitars - Wishbone Ash is a band that I loved when I was a teenager. So, just that twin guitar thing was outstanding. But I didn't see a lot of the other bands."
Emmett then addressed the claim concerning whether Triumph was the top band that day. "So, as far as 'stealing the day'…this is what I think about that - after all these years. We were the outlier band. All these other bands were, like, really heavy. Mötley Crüe was on the rise up and they were definitely a kind of 'live-for-today party band.' And there was kind of a heavy quality to everybody - including the headliner, Van Halen. Who, I think the consensus was they didn't have a great day because maybe there had been too much partying over the course of the long day - back in their pavilion and their enclave. So, by the time they got out late at night, that was not necessarily one of their better moments."
Read the full report at Ultimate-Guitar.com.
From Triumph superstar Rik Emmett comes the thrilling, inspiring story of a life of rock and roll.
While describing the impulse driving his life and work, Rik Emmett explains, “I was never in it for the sex and drugs — ah, but the rock and roll. Creativity was, and still is, my it — the truth I bet my life on. It was also, always, about play. The play’s the thing …”
Merging memoir, anecdotes, and masterclasses on guitar, songwriting, and the artist’s mindset, Lay It On The Line offers insight and perspective into the many roles Rik Emmett took on. “It” was always a parboiling, psychological gumbo: and this book attempts to finally share the recipe.
It also includes photos from Emmett’s own archives, plus the definitive, detailed reasons behind why he walked from Triumph — and came back two decades later.
Rock star, it seems, was a character for Rik Emmett to inhabit … a great gig, a catalytic door-opener … it was a role that led to other adventures — and these are the stories he’s chosen to tell.
