Toto

[Max Kuehnau]

Their debut is full of great songs.

Though they are pretty diverse music wise, I always think of Toto as a rock band. That's where they really shine imo, Girl Goodbye being a prime example. And that's probably why I like Kingdom Of Desire so much, that's a full out rock record, firing on all cylinders. Although it's very different from the rest of their work.

it's different, but it works well and they accomplished what they wanted to do musically with it.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Goodbye Girl is such an awesome song.  The intro sounds like something Leprous was inspired from.

reverse the title and you've got it (fixed it for you), and I agree that that song is ahead of its time (it came out in 1978 remember)

The opening medley they did on the Live in Amsterdam album is amazing. 

Also speaking of openers, the On The Run/CA/Goodbye Elenore medley they did in 2013/14 was also killer.

[Max Kuehnau]

Goodbye Girl is such an awesome song.  The intro sounds like something Leprous was inspired from.

reverse the title and you've got it (fixed it for you), and I agree that that song is ahead of its time (it came out in 1978 remember)

The opening medley they did on the Live in Amsterdam album is amazing. 

Also speaking of openers, the On The Run/CA/Goodbye Elenore medley they did in 2013/14 was also killer.

very true, and I know, I attended the 2003 tour, it was a great one.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Goodbye Girl is such an awesome song.  The intro sounds like something Leprous was inspired from.

reverse the title and you've got it (fixed it for you), and I agree that that song is ahead of its time (it came out in 1978 remember)

The opening medley they did on the Live in Amsterdam album is amazing. 

Also speaking of openers, the On The Run/CA/Goodbye Elenore medley they did in 2013/14 was also killer.

very true, and I know, I attended the 2003 tour, it was a great one.

Awesome, I think that was the first tour I saw Toto actually. 

[cramx3]

The concert last saturday was a lot of fun.  Really awesome performance from start to finish.  They sounded pretty much perfect.  I love live percussion and horns/wind instruments as well.  I think it was sold out, but the row in front of me all the way in the back was empty (I saw the tickets for resale so I guess they went sold but unsold).  But what I HATED was how everyone sat for almost all of the show.  People stood for the second song, Hold the Line, and then sat right back down.  Ugh.  I get it, it's an older crowd and not a metal concert, but still, it's rock n roll.  Some people did stand, you could see a few one offs and security was super lax (compared to seeing DT there earlier in the year) with letting people stand in the aisles so some people chose to find a spot to stand but that was very few people.  With no one in front or behind me, I could choose but I ended up sitting with the rest.  Oh well, the good thing was much more stable camera work  but anway, all the instrumental parts were really cool.  Jake to the Bone seemed like their Dance of Eternity and it was really fun to watch.  They went on at 8:15 and the acoustic part of the set started around 9, which happened to be when I needed a refill and to my surprise, the bar had shut down for the night.  WTF?  However, they said you could go out to a bar and come back in  WTF?  I didn't get it, but a few other guys were just as confused so we all went to a bar just down the street real quick and chugged a drink before getting back in time for Girl Goodbye  No surprises or anything crazy (looks like they had a special guest for the last night in Philly) and they finished around 10:15 so a solid 2 hour set.  Africa at the end was finally when people got back on their feet since Hold the Line and half the crowd left after before the encore    Anyway, I went from the last row on the balcony to the 8th row on the floor.  Their loss was my gain. 

Toto Live @ Count Basie Theatre NJ

[The Walrus]

Glad you had fun, Marc. OMFG this set. Nice.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/toto/2019/grand-theater-at-foxwoods-mashantucket-ct-2b9df856.html

[Kwyjibo]

Cool that you enjoyed the show, and yes, the musicianship is stunning. Not as "flashy" as DT or other acts but still very great.

That setlist is similar to their 40 Tours Around The Sun live release, lots of cool songs in there.

But what I HATED was how everyone sat for almost all of the show.  People stood for the second song, Hold the Line, and then sat right back down.  Ugh.  I get it, it's an older crowd and not a metal concert, but still, it's rock n roll.

This always surprises me, that you americans have rock concerts in fully seated venues. In Germany (and Europe?) concerts this size normally have only standing room, or if they have seats they are few and in the back or on the sides. So in the Toto concerts I've seen, everyone was standing and everyone was rockin' out. 

I wonder what bands think when they had a concert run around Europe and the return to the states and suddenly everyone is sitting during their performance. 

[Fritzinger]

Cool that you enjoyed the show, and yes, the musicianship is stunning. Not as "flashy" as DT or other acts but still very great.

That setlist is similar to their 40 Tours Around The Sun live release, lots of cool songs in there.

But what I HATED was how everyone sat for almost all of the show.  People stood for the second song, Hold the Line, and then sat right back down.  Ugh.  I get it, it's an older crowd and not a metal concert, but still, it's rock n roll.

This always surprises me, that you americans have rock concerts in fully seated venues. In Germany (and Europe?) concerts this size normally have only standing room, or if they have seats they are few and in the back or on the sides. So in the Toto concerts I've seen, everyone was standing and everyone was rockin' out. 

I wonder what bands think when they had a concert run around Europe and the return to the states and suddenly everyone is sitting during their performance. 

Well, to be fair, I have seen Steven Wilson sitting in Berlin, and I have first row tickets for Opeth next month in Nürnberg.

Not sure though if that is a decision made by the artist.

[Kwyjibo]

All other Opeth concerts in Germany are standing room only, so it's probably more to do with the venue and not necessarily with the artist. Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg sounds more like a venue for classical concerts, maybe that's why its fully seated?

And obviously I can't speak for every location, but from my experience in the general area of Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf small and medium sized venues have only or mostly standing room and only a few have seats at all, and those, as I've mentioned have their seats on the side or in the back, never in front of the stage.

[Fritzinger]

The only other concert I've seen at the Meistersingerhalle was The Astonishing so that's not representative for a rock concert But yeah, the venue does indeed give off a "sitting" vibe...

I just remembered, I saw Toto in Leipzig, Haus Auensee last year in February, standing, and then Nick Mason a few months later at the same venue, sitting...

Anyway, I am generally more of a standing guy, because I like to rock out. With exceptions, of course, like Katie Melua or King Crimson. But front row tickets for bigger acts are always so expensive. Elton John tickets for the first few rows are like 400€. If it's a standing concert you at least have the chance to get to the front if you get there a little earlier.

[Stadler]

Growing up in the 80's as an arena rock guy (EDIT: in America, in the northeast of the country, near New York), the VAST majority of shows I saw were fully seated.  That doesn't mean that everyone sat; most of the "floor" sections had a full set of seats and everyone just stood (it's why I rarely bought floor seats unless I was in the first five rows; I couldn't see shit.)

I have no knowledge of this first hand, but if I was to guess, it was a "safety" issue because of events like The Who in Cincinnati (yes, I know the stampede was outside before the show, but it resulted in many localities banning general admission shows). 

[Kwyjibo]

I've seen maybe a hundred concerts in my life, starting in the late 80s and none of them were fully seated. Obviously in the big arenas you have seats but the floor was always standing room. And I think it depends on what you are used to, that's why I find it strange when I see videos of concerts in America and the crowd is sitting (or standing before their seat).

In my youth I couldn't believe that some people deliberately bought tickets for seats, because you can't rock out when you're sitting. Now, as I get older and my back is troubling me more and more I can see the appeal of a seated venue.  But I still find the notion of sitting at a rock concert strange. 

[Orbert]

The way Stadler describes it is pretty much how it was for me, which was the Midwest in the 70's.  Concerts may have had seated areas, but the floor was usually general admission, and the seats were often GA as well.  That all went away after The Who concert.  Reserved seating became the norm for concerts pretty much immediately.  By the 80's, most of my concerts were behind me, and I have no idea how they are today.

As you say, it depends on what you're used to.  A concert to me has always meant sitting and listening to the music, regardless of genre.  But I think part of it is because here you have an assigned seat, even if it's a rock concert.  Most people try to get there early, so you find your seat, and you're not going to just stand there for the next half hour, so you sit down.  Eventually the show starts and people stand up and a lot of them keep standing up, but a lot of people sit back down just because that's what they were doing before.

[cramx3]

GA floor in arenas is definitely thing in the states, I guess at some point people said The Who thing was in the past.  I mean, I can see putting seats on the floor for say Slipknot ending in a disaster of chairs everywhere.  So I think it can go both ways from safety so it seems from my experiences, seats on the floor of an area vs. GA is an artist choice.  For example, Iron Maiden at Barclays, Disturbed at MSG, Greta Van Fleet at Forest Hills Stadium all had big GA floors this year, meanwhile Kiss at MSG, Elton John at Staples Center, and Aerosmith at Park Theater all had seats on the floor.  Now that I think about it, another reason could be $ as those front seats are so insanely expensive for those last three bands I listed. 

Either way, when rock bands play these mid sized theaters, which DT typically plays, it always seems to become a "do you sit or stand?" question.  Incubus at Warner THeater two weekends ago, the band hits the stage and I could see everyone in my section looking at each other as if do you sit or stand. I stood and then literally everyone else did.  It was like they were waiting for someone to make a move first.  It's so funny in some ways, but really kind of bums me out mostly that it is even a thing. 

[Stadler]

Cram, I remember back in '84 seeing Dio and Twisted Sister in the old New Haven Coliseum.  I had the first row of seats after the floor, so I could just about see over the heads of the floor people to the stage.  At one point - I think it was during Twisted, though don't hold me to that - you could see the silhouette of chairs being tossed back and forth.  Both singers - Snider and Dio - had to address the crowds at some point in their sets.

(Side bar, found out the next day that my dad's boss's daughter was in that mess and took a chair to the face. I guess you could say she "Took one to the FAAACCCCEEEE!")

[cramx3]

Yea, not surprising and I had assumed that had already happened without knowing any specific examples. 

I saw Incubus at MSG back in like 2004 and bought floor seats for my gf at the time, but near the back and we couldnt see anything, so we stood on the chairs.  Then everyone else did, which brought us back to the same place but now everyones much less safe standing on chairs.  Security never complained, but that was a memorable experience in it's own way. 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Home of the Brave (Last song for now and maybe ever  )


Here's a great interview with Steve Porcaro:

STEVE PORCARO - Studio Musician, Songwriter and founding member of Toto

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Bobby Kimball - Africa

Has he become tone deaf?

[Kwyjibo]

He's losing his voice for some time now and has given several questionable performances in the past years. And it is said that he suffers from severe dementia, parkinson or something. Maybe that affects his singing/hearing as well.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yea that could explain it. It's sad to see a known singer like him go "down" like that. I'm pretty sure he's surrounded with YES people.

[Max Kuehnau]

Yea that could explain it. It's sad to see a known singer like him go "down" like that. I'm pretty sure he's surrounded with YES people.

You mean he subbed for a singer in Yes? Can't remember he did, but what do I know.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yea that could explain it. It's sad to see a known singer like him go "down" like that. I'm pretty sure he's surrounded with YES people.

You mean he subbed for a singer in Yes? Can't remember he did, but what do I know.

Just to be clear because I see the joke  I was talking about for example managers that won't talk Bobby out of anything and basically says YES to anything he suggests or vice versa perhaps.

Btw Toto and YES actually did a tour together some time ago so it's not that far out. 

[Kwyjibo]

And Jon Anderson sang on Stop Loving You.

[Max Kuehnau]

And Jon Anderson sang on Stop Loving You.

and all the Toto guys on T7th1 were on most of In The City Of Angels (a Jon Anderson solo album)

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

TOTO • 40 Tours Around the Sun • Monitoring, FOH Sound & Lighting

Interesting stuff!

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

RIP Joe Porcaro! Wonderful percussionist and human being.

Only Steve left now. 

[The Walrus]

RIP Joe Porcaro! Wonderful percussionist and human being.

Only Steve left now. 

Wow. Sad news to wake up. RIP Joe.

[Max Kuehnau]

RIP Joe Porcaro! Wonderful percussionist and human being.

Only Steve left now. 

yes, I'm saddened. (yes, he got to be old and wise, but still...) And then to think that Ennio Morricone passed yesterday as well... (I tend to think 2020 is the new 2016)

[Polarbear]

RIP Joe Porcaro! Wonderful percussionist and human being.

Only Steve left now. 

 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Monday October 19th
9AM EST

Hmm, reunion? 

[MinistroRaven]

Toto is BACK: https://totoofficial.com/2020/10/dogzofoz/

[cramx3]

That didn't last long  however, it's hard to get too excited about a tour they are talking about when it's really hard to even imagine concerts next summer. 

[Max Kuehnau]

I'm dissappointed. That's all I'll say for now. (well maybe one more thing: Having Sput Searight on drums will most likely be as debaculous as having Keith Carlock.)

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I'm dissappointed. That's all I'll say for now. (well maybe one more thing: Having Sput Searight on drums will most likely be as debaculous as having Keith Carlock.)

Yea I mean both Keith and Sput are very creative drummers with a unique style. For me Shannon Forrest was just perfect for Toto.

[Kwyjibo]

It's good that they continue but sad that Paich and Porcaro aren't part of it.

And I thought they called it quit because of a lawsuit they lost against Jeff Porcaro's wife. Is that somehow settled or do I remember it wrong?

And funny that Luke seems to be the driving force when he was the one who said that it wasn't Toto anymore after the Falling In Between tour with all those guest musicians (mainly Sklar and Philinganes) .