Toto - Birmingham Review

Despite having had a great couple of days in London with a couple of melodic rock bands, particularly H.E.A.T who really delivered at the Islington Assembly Hall on Friday night, my recent long weekend away was always likely to peak as it was coming to an end. This was because, following seeing two of the newer faces on the melodic rock scene, it was time to see one of the originals and, still, one of the very best - as the legendary American rockers Toto were making their first visit to the UK since 2019. Given the other shows, it made the most sense to see Toto in Birmingham - at the BP Pulse Live which is part of the NEC complex by the city's airport. I last saw Toto live in 2018, when they brought their 40th anniversary tour to the Royal Albert Hall. Since then, however, Toto's history has been somewhat rocky. The band's founding member and key driving force David Paich has essentially had to retire from active duty for health reasons - and they also found themselves in a rather messy legal battle with the estate of late drummer Jeff Porcaro which ended up costing them a lot of money. This drama and family strain also saw Steve Porcaro leave the band, which left Steve Lukather (vocals/guitar) as the only original member left standing. Following a brief hiatus to regroup, though, Lukather and long-time frontman Joseph Williams decided to put Toto back on the road, with support from Paich behind the scenes - and since the pandemic the band have been pretty busy with a number of top-class session players coming and going from the line-up. Sadly it looks like we will never see any new music from Toto due to the legal issues, but Lukather and Williams seem determined to keep touring - and the first proper run of UK shows since 2018 was a very exciting prospect to a die-hard Toto fan like me, even if the great core of original/long-time members which were present at the shows I saw in 2015 and 2018 had broken apart. Along with Paich, Lukather has always been Toto's co-driving force - and Williams is the band's only classic-era frontman who is still up to the task. The two have a real bond at this point, too, which has really come to the fore over the past few years. Following a couple of nights in London, then, it was time to head to Birmingham, via a slow train due to strikes - but I got to the country's second city in plenty of time for a late lunch before checking into my hotel for a bit of a nap. The BP Pulse Live is not my favourite venue as it requires getting a train to and from which can lead to clock-watching throughout gigs there - but it is a good venue and I have had a number of memorable nights there over the years. I got there around 45 minutes before the music started and found that I had good seats. The venue had been set up to appear much smaller than usual, with the stage further forward - which created a relatively intimate atmosphere despite the few thousand likely still in attendance.

The previous times I had seen Toto they did not have a support act - but this time the crowd were treated to around 45 minutes of smooth music from the yacht rock pioneer Christopher Cross. Cross is not someone that I am hugely familiar with, but his 1979 debut album is an all-time classic - so I was looking forward to checking him out further and exploring beyond those obvious few hits. Whilst his support slot was largely based around the hits, though, I had a great time watching him and his masterful band delivering some legendary songs and a few deeper cuts with ease. At 73, Cross looks to have barely aged at all. His voice has held up really well over the years, and his guitar playing is always much more fiery than I remember. It helped, too, that his backing band were really tight. All of the musicians were excellent, but special mention needs to go to Andy Suzuki (saxophone/keyboards) and Francis Amaud (drums). So many of Cross' songs had big saxophone hooks, and Suzuki's solos were masterful, whilst Amaud's grooves were tight and full of energy despite the largely more sedate nature of Cross' work. The trio of backing singers also added a lot to the sound, too, harmonising well with Cross throughout and even taking the lead during parts of some songs. Cross still sang well, though, and his tone has remained intact - and he took quite a few opportunities to talk to the crowd to introduce the songs. Many of the songs played did come from that famous debut, including Never Be the Same and I Really Don't Know Anymore early on - but the opening track All Right came from his second album and there were also deeper cuts played. He seems a man very at ease with his legacy. He knew that he had to include most of the hits as a support act, but his willingness to dip into his catalogue was welcome - with the relatively newer Dreamers being a mid-set highlight which followed the smash-hit Sailing. It was also great that he received a strong reception from the crowd throughout. In fact, the atmosphere was pretty good throughout the whole night, with most into everything played, and Cross seemed pleased with the warmth he received. With anthems like The Light Is On, though, it is easy to see why his set went down well - but support acts at arena shows, especially opening for older bands, can sometimes run into a wall of nothing. This was not the case, though, and by the time his set came to a close with Ride Like the Wind everyone was certainly good and warmed up for Toto. The setlist was:

All Right

Never Be the Same

I Really Don't Know Anymore

Alibi

Sailing

Dreamers

Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)

The Light Is On

Ride Like the Wind

There were about 40 minutes between the two sets, but this meant that there was time to stretch the legs and use the facilities before the long weekend's finale - and by the time 9pm rolled around I was really ready. Toto are a real favourite these days and this was only my third time seeing them live. They tend to switch up the setlist between each tour, too, so I was looking forward to hearing a number of tracks live for the first time - alongside all of the mandatory hits. There is never any pomp with Toto, either. The do not have fancy screens or stage sets - and in front of a simple backdrop they rocked hard for the best part of two hours, delivering masterful melodic rock to a receptive crowd. As it had been for Cross, too, the sound throughout was essentially perfect. Everything was audible and the overall balance was great - meaning that the band's tight vocal harmonies shone. It was an instrumental which kicked everything off, though, with Child's Anthem getting the show on the road. The driving keyboards of both Greg Phillinganes and Dennis Atlas gave the song its synth-edged majesty - whilst Lukather's searing guitar leads set the tone for what was to come. The band generally played the songs straight, although often outros were stretched out with extended soloing - and there were slight changes to the vocal arrangements at times. With most in the band singing lead at least once during the set, the vocal power was immense. Clearly Williams did the most of the singing and Lukather had a customary few numbers - but the biggest surprise was the newest recruit Atlas, who sang quite a lot, too. His powerful voice can hit those old Bobby Kimball and Fergie Frederiksen highs of the past - and he showcased this duetting with Williams during Carmen, which followed Child's Anthem. Carmen has long been a favourite of mine, so it was a real treat to hear that bombastic chorus live - and the whole room came to their feet during Rosanna which followed. The jazzy anthem was sung loudly by the crowd, with Lukather and Williams duetting - but the instrumental outro was full of bluster, including a lengthy guitar solo, plenty of keyboard action, and some saxophone from Warren Ham (vocals/saxophone/flute/harmonica/percussion). There were a few deep cuts included, too. Carmen counts as one I think, but the real treat early on was the second ever live performance of Mindfields - which featured Williams, Atlas, and Ham all sharing the lead vocals throughout. It might not be a classic, but it is a powerful and underrated song that sounded at home in the set. It was followed by a sing-a-long in the form of ballad I Will Remember, though, which likely got some of the casuals back on side - although I did think that Lukather was not in the best form vocally. Everything else about the set sounded great, but Lukather's voice was showing signs of age at times. He ended up duetting I Won't Hold You Back with Williams later, which suggests that maybe he is aware of his limitations - but this should take nothing away from his guitar playing which was as great as ever.

I have always preferred the more bombastic tracks than the ones Lukather tends to take the lead on in any case - which is why Angel Don't Cry was a big highlight for me. Williams and Atlas shared the vocals on this one, too, and there was a moment where I had to laugh which saw Atlas returning to his keyboards after venturing out to act as a frontman for a bit to casually rip into the mid-song synth duel with Phillinganes as if it was nothing - before heading back out to sing. Everything from the band seemed so effortless and that moment really summed that feeling up for me. The second half of the show generally contained more well-known tracks - but there were still a few I had not seen live before. The big ballad I'll Be Over You was one, surprisingly, but it was great to hear the anthemic White Sister live again, which Williams owned - before Atlas and he smashed through the funky I'll Supply the Love like it was nothing. This was another song which was was dragged out somewhat towards the end - with the closing instrumental section elongated to include plenty of powerful guitar soloing from Lukather. A pretty potent drum solo from Shannon Forrest followed, which included lots of tight grooves and tom rolls (this followed keyboard spots for both Phillinganes and Atlas earlier in the set) - which then led into a hard rocking performance of the more soulful and bluesy Don't Chain My Heart, another overall highlight. Lukather actually sounded pretty strong vocally during it, too, which was likely as the song was more of a rocker than a ballad, and the soulful harmonies during the chorus were on point. Sadly, there was not too much time left by this point. Lukather made sure to introduce all of the musicians on stage, though, giving us some history for each one - including that John Pierce (bass guitar) was in one of his high school bands back in the day. Many of these musicians have known each other for many years despite some of them being fairly new to Toto - but the quality of the line-up showed that Paich, Lukather, and Williams have found the best people for the job. It was left to three big singles to finish things off, with Stop Loving You seeing plenty of singing from the crowd - before Phillinganes reeled off the famous piano intro of Hold the Line and the place really went wild. Everyone was on their feet by this point and the Hold the Line chorus rang around the venue with ease - before Forrest and Ham teamed up for the percussive intro of Africa which turned out to be the night's last song. Williams sang the song in place of Paich, bringing it to life nicely, whilst the pulsing keyboards and tribal grooves saw plenty of dancing in the crowd. It was stretched out somewhat, too, with a bit more soloing and by Williams conducting a sing-a-long with the crowd. It was a great way to end to show - and there was no need for a silly encore. The band had played for the best part of two hours by this point - so took their bows to huge cheers. The setlist was:

Child's Anthem

Carmen

Rosanna

Mindfields

I Will Remember

Pamela

Keyboard Solo

I Won't Hold You Back

Angel Don't Cry

Georgy Porgy

Keyboard Solo

White Sister

I'll Be Over You

I'll Supply the Love

Drum Solo

Don't Chain My Heart

Stop Loving You

Hold the Line

Africa

Alongside Cross' excellent set, Toto put on a masterful showing in Birmingham this past weekend. It was up there with the 2015 show I saw in London, which was the best of the previous two - and it was great to hear some real favourite cuts live for the first time. The previous shows might have contained more 'legitimate' line-ups, but the current version of Toto is packed with quality - and the vocal power and variety in particular really stood out. Everything sounded tight but with enough groove and spontaneity to allow that classic Toto approach to shine - and I hope that they return to the UK again fairly soon, as I need more of Toto live in my life.