It may have passed some of you by with all of the hype surrounding Journey's sold out UK tour but there has been another of the world's greatest AOR/melodic band on the road at the minute and the date at Newcastle City Hall was the second on the UK leg of their European trek.

Who, TOTO, that's who

Being a long time fan I had caught the band twice before but this was the band's first visit to Newcastle in a 30 year career and the early start, just before 8.00pm, caught one or two people off guard as the band blasted into action with the title of my personnel album of 2006 'Falling In Between'. A big feature of pervious Toto shows has been the use of multi media throughout adding to the bands stage personas and this was to no exception with no less three video screens in use, spotlighting the various members at key moments throughout the show and used carefully to enhance the excellent lighting rig. 'King Of The World' and 'Pamela' followed in quick succession and yet despite some absolutely stellar musicianship on display the response from the close to sold out City Hall was decidedly lacklustre. This despite a stunning version of 'Bottom Of Soul' which saw Luke on acoustic guitar Bobby Kimball handling the backing vocals and then the equally stunning 'Caught In The Balance'

Having mentioned above that I've seen Toto twice before I'm not certain whether it's the band or the reviewer who is jinxed as on both occasions the band was minus a key component. On the Tambu tour drummer Simon Phillip's was off duty, only to be replaced by Greg Bissonette and for the current tour Mike Porocrro has had to sit on the sidelines - Toto obviously have the same luck as the Newcastle first team squad when it comes to injuries and illness but, unlike the Magpies, Toto do manage to bring in the highest quality subs available, with the bass spot being filled for this run by the Dumbledore look-a-like Leland Sklar. He may look like a member of ZZ Top, but boy can Sklar play , no more so than during the the excellent 'Don’t Chain My Heart' which acted as a superb showcase for his skill.

So six songs in and whilst I’m enjoying the show, the rest of the audience seem definitely under whelmed. What would it take to get these guys and gals out of the their seats? In 20 years of concert going at the City Hall I can count on the fingers of one hand how many concerts I’ve sat through. This may have seemed disheartening for the band giving it their all on stage but luckily a surprisingly early 'Hold The Line' solved the problem and had the majority on their feet finally and dancing around.

A short acoustic section gave second guitarist Tommy Spinner a chance to show off his vocal chops on 'Can’t Stop Loving You' and not only does look like Mitch Malloy, he sounds like him as well. I’ll definitely be checking out his solo work. Following the acoustic bit the band launched into a laid back jazz version of Rosanna, well laid back at least until that riff kicked in and then it was full steam ahead. But that's arguably the skill of Toto, they can mix totally over the top musicianship with memorable songs and change the mood and feel of a song at any given moment. For some the band may overdo the extended instrumental workouts live, but that is all part and parcel of the skill of the guys on stage. Personally if the band want to show off their chops I would rather hear one instrumentals such 'Childs Anthem'  as the musical masturbation can be hard going but that is only negative comment  one could make about the whole tour hours plus show. . Lukather simply played his arse off all night and if he ever gives up the guitar he has a new career lined up in stand up comedy as he had the whole place in kinks with some of his one liners thought out the show.

The rest of the show consisted of tracks old and new, with something for fans of any era of the band. 'Taint Your World', 'Gift Of Faith' and set closer 'Drag Him To The Roof' were all particular highlights for this reviewer but ask anyone who was there and I would bet their highlights would be different. David Paich, who no longer tours with the band, was not missed at all as the other new boy Greg Phiilliganes more than capably handled the keyboards and vocals from behind his gargantuan keyboard stand in fact the only time Paich was missed was during the encore of, what else but, Africa. In saying that the vocals throughout the show were outstanding, with no less than four lead vocalists at different points and the harmony work probably unequalled by any band, anywhere. Add the amazing rhythm section, the guitar genius of Lukather, the vocals qualities of all concerned and I don’t believe any band in the world can play as well as Toto.... A night of wonderful musicianship, great songs, humour and fantastic performances -   let's hope it's not another thirty years before they come back to Newcastle

A big thank you Martin Cole for all this help with the interviews and passes etc - putting up with  all the emails - and thanks for Toto for finally coming home to my home town.

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