Toto
Falling In Between Tour 2006
11 March, Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt (Germany)
Review & Photos by Sven Horlemann, in Germany for melodicrock.com.
Hail Scotland! What is going on? Easy, guys, nothing to be afraid of. I just fulfill my promise to say thanks to the friendly Scottish merchandising guy who did help me out with a pen. You might find this ridiculous, but try to remember everything from a two hour show. Guess I'm getting old. So thanks mate!
It was a night to remember. With only 17 European dates the tour graces the UK, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and, for 2 dates, Germany.
We had the honor to be invited by Frontiers (thanks, Sandra!) to this event, and an event it was.
First I was amazed to learn that the Jahrhunderthalle was sold out. The Jahrhunderthalle is a concert hall that was mainly used for classical concerts, the ceiling a dome generating a quite amazing sound and a tribune. In Europe you are standing in rock concerts, so the floor seating was removed and about 4.800 people (!!) enjoyed the 2006 show of Toto.
This might not impress our American friends. For a European concert this is one of the bigger venues, apart of festival appearances of course. Mariah Carey and Seal by far didn't get so many people in their headlining concerts (go figure!).
We entered the venue the second the intro was finished and the band started to play.
Perfect timing.
Not surprisingly the band started with tunes of their latest album, Falling In Between and King Of The World. The band rocked. I mean, listen to the album: it is fabulous - songs like Hooked and Taint Your World are simply great. Toto have definitely arrived in the 21st century. The crowd reaction was great. Standing right before the stage, taking pictures, I could hear everyone shouting and singing.
Scanning the stage, you could see (from left to right) sideman Tony Spinner (gt, vc), new kid Greg Phillinganes on keys, Bobby Kimbal, Steve Lukather, Simon Phillips and Mike Porcaro. In case anyone is missing David Paich, the band informed in interviews that David will not be available for touring anymore, although you might be lucky in the Los Angeles area. I am glad to say that Greg just fitted in perfectly. The self confidence of the original members (yes I am counting in Mike and Simon) showes in giving their sidemen spots were they were taking over the lead vocals, including Tony as well as Greg.
So what did we get? A very good, crystal clear sound. Everything was well balanced, you could chose to listen to Mike's bass playing as well as the keys or the guitars. They sang heavenly background vocals, and, being an “classic” band, they still do the singing by themselves.
Whoever had the pleasure to see Toto live on their last tours knows that they really try to make everyone happy, without reducing it to a greatest hits tour. So of course you had several new songs (Bottom Of Your Soul, Taint Your Word, Let It Go and the above mentioned), all my favorites by the way. Ok, Spiritual Man would have been great, but tricky in bringing it on stage – it needs additional background singers, horns etc.
They also surprised by a great mix with songs of the late seventies and the eighties. A nice twist to the set list was Pamela, which did emphasis the great The Seventh One album with Joseph Williams. You might know that Williams contributed to Falling In Between. I also liked the inclusion of Caught In The Balance (from Mindfields) as well as the songs from the Luke “dominated” 90's period with Kingdom Of Desire (introduced as “Song for Jeff”), Gift Of Faith and I Will Remember, the latter being part of an short acoustic set.
Pretty early in the set they played Hold The Line, calming everyone down with a nice little keyboard solo by Greg. It led straight into a very jazzy version of Rosanna, based on a swing rhythm. Just when I thought about whether I like that version or not they switched to the known version and rocked the house. Interesting enough when Luke kicked into a rocky guitar frenzy the people just enjoyed it. Very cool indeed to end the song with a jazzy improvisation.
Luke then introduced the band, again showing his appreciation for everyone in the band. A legend on his own, Simon Phillips received the biggest reaction – apparently a lot musicians were present. They dived into a cool version of Let It Go, a new song displaying the classic Toto style. This song would fit on every Toto album, regardless of the era it was recorded. Hydra included Simon's drum solo. I really liked that they played Isolation which led into the guitar solo of Steve Lukather, who jammed over a solid bass and drum groove and tested his whammy bar in a very classy way. Taint Your Word rocked the house, I Won't Hold You Back cooled things down. Goodbye Girl ended the regular set, Home Of The Brave served as the encore.
The amazing crowd reaction clearly pleasing the band, and Luke honored the fans with a “You've just earned yourself another 10 years of Toto”. Good natured fun was what the guys were having on stage. There is an obvious humorous side of Toto (the origin of the band name itself is an indication). I mean, just check out the bonus disc of the “Live in Amsterdam” DVD! Luke doing the talking, he ranted about MTV and that “being rockstar is easy, but we are musicians”. Well said.
The Bottom Line:
Toto perfected their art. You might be the most famous studio musician, winning people over means to provide songs, melody and entertainment. That's what Toto is all about.
There will always be disappointments in the set list of classic acts like Toto. “Why didn't you play Afraid Of Love etc. ?”. Let' face it: We could use a weekend full of Toto live music without getting bored. I'm looking forward for the next tour.
