Gil Moore can barely go a day without hearing someone belt out the words to one of his biggest hits.
“It's hard to get through a Tim Hortons lineup without people singing, 'Lay It on the Line,'” he said. “I'm playing golf and I'm lining up my putt, and guys are yelling at me, 'Lay it on the line!'”
Canadian rock legends Triumph will reunite for a three-song set Friday at the Rogers Festival at the Final, just ahead of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton.
The Mississauga, Ont., power trio — Moore, Rik Emmett and Mike Levine — rose to fame in the late ’70s and ’80s with hits like "Lay It on the Line."
More than four decades since its 1979 release, the song has gained a new wave of attention thanks to heavy rotation in Rogers’ NHL playoff promos.
A younger generation has discovered Triumph through the phone application “Shazam,” which identifies songs by their audio. “Lay It on the Line” skyrocketed to No. 1 on Shazam’s Canadian charts and retained top spot for three weeks following the commercial’s release.
“You write a song and you're hoping it's going to be an earworm on radio (46 years ago),” Emmett said. “It worked, and it was great, and now here it is decades later, and it's having the same effect on a whole new generation of folks.”
The show before Game 2 will be Triumph’s first public performance since 2008. The band last played a private set in 2019 at Mississauga's Metalworks Studios during the filming of their documentary, "Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine."
So are they nervous? A little.
“But once you get on a stage, a certain amount of it's like sea legs, right? It's not like we haven't been there before,” Emmett said.
Added Moore: "It's like getting back on the bicycle. I know how to fall off, so it's going to work out just fine … We'll just have to see once we sharpen up the skates, what happens."
Levine will not take part in Friday’s reunion show, but three other Canadian musicians will join Emmett and Moore for the set: Guitarist Phil-X, drummer and keyboardist Brent Fitz and bassist Todd Kerns.
They’ll perform outside Rogers Place as part of the pre-game festivities, which also feature Kingston rockers The Glorious Sons.
It's all a bit of a surprise because the band did not know the commercial was coming. Like most people, they found out by turning on the TV to watch the NHL playoffs.
"It came on, and of course, our cellphones lit up like a pinball machine from all our friends,” Moore said. “Social media all of a sudden picked up on it, and it was just a big surprise. A good one."
Emmett said it reached a point that people complained about hearing the song too often, becoming the source of "good-natured" internet memes.
“My son-in-law is sending me clips that he's found on Instagram of people, they're complaining bitterly that Rogers is running it too much, and laughing, because he knows that this is nothing but good, because everybody's loving it,” he said. “It's the Stanley Cup playoffs and it's Canada … The reach was phenomenal.”
Terrie Tweddle, Rogers’ chief brand and communications officer, said the company chose the song as part of its “This Is Our Game” campaign.
“We were looking for an iconic Canadian band, an iconic Canadian track," she said. "'Lay It on the Line,' we played it, and we knew right away that that would be the perfect song to kick off the playoffs.
"It has an energy, it has a confidence, it has a desire to pursue your passions and your goals.”
The appearance is part of Triumph’s 50th anniversary celebrations, which include a tribute album out Friday featuring Slash, Sebastian Bach and more.
The album also includes a new version of “Lay It on the Line,” recorded by Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
