The State Theatre lobby in New Brunswick, NJ, is filled to the max this Tuesday, November 13, 2018 evening with music fans ready to experience the 40 Trips Around the Sun concert tour by the legendary rock group, Toto!

All told, Toto has released 17 studio albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide. The band was originally created by keyboardist David Paich and drummer Jeff Porcaro — musicians who had played on albums by such artists as Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs — along with guitarist Steve Lukather and Jeff’s brother, keyboardist Steve Porcaro.

After completing their first album in 1978, the unnamed group adopted the moniker Toto from the Latin “in toto,” which means “all-encompassing.” The album — also titled Toto — quickly climbed the charts and earned the group a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

In 1982, Toto achieved tremendous success with the release of their fourth album, Toto IV, which was certified Triple Platinum and featured three singles that reached the Billboard Top Ten. It also earned the group seven Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.

Following the release of Toto IV, Jeff and Steve’s brother, Mike Porcaro, became the band’s bassist. In 1985, Joseph Williams — the son of film composer John Williams — joined the group as Toto’s lead vocalist. Following founder Jeff Porcaro’s death in 1992, performers including George Harrison, Don Henley, Eddie Van Halen, and Michael McDonald honored him at a tribute concert where — along with the remaining members of the band — they performed a variety of Toto songs.

For the next two decades, the group continued to tour and record. In 2005, Paich retired from touring, but returned in 2010. Mike Porcaro passed away in 2007. This year, for the band’s 40th anniversary, they released their latest recording, 40 Trips Around the Sun.

On the group’s 40 Trips Around the Sun tour stop at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, fans in the lobby have an appealing array of Toto merchandise to peruse which not only includes Toto T-Shirts and baseball caps, but a Toto dress, a pair of official Toto maracas, and even a set of four bobbleheads featuring long-time Toto members Steve Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Joseph Williams, and founder David Paich.

As we wait for the auditorium doors to open, we chat with Ron from Pennsauken who purchased a set of Toto bobbleheads, explaining, “I’m a big sports fan with about 5000 sports figures, but when I saw these Toto bobbleheads, I had to get them, as I’ve recently started adding music figures to my collection.”

A Toto fan since the 1980s, Ron reveals, “I’ve seen the band five times — their music is unlike anyone else’s.”

Noting, “The talent level in the band is unreal — they’re all studio musicians,” Ron continues, “I love guitar, and Steve Lukather is one of the top ten guitar players of all time. Also, the group’s songwriting is great,” before acknowledging, “their music has been a huge inspiration in my life.”

We also chat with a group of young musicians here to experience the music of Toto.

Seth from Montclair is a drummer, bassist, and trombonist, who also plays guitar in the metal band, Vasoconstriction.

Comments Seth, “I love Toto. They are musically complicated, yet easy to listen to. They play catchy songs that are popular, but are really good. You can listen to them again and again and, each time, you can hear something new.”

Seth’s Vasoconstriction bandmate, drummer Chris W. from Glen Ridge, agrees, adding, “I’m here tonight because I love watching great musicians.”

Seth and Chris W.’s colleague, Chris from Bloomfield — the bassist for the band, Woodland Tomb — praises the music of Toto by exclaiming, “They’re pretty sick!”

Lastly, the trio’s friend, Maddy from Summit, echoes the “You supply the night, baby/I’ll supply the love” lyric from Toto’s “I’ll Supply the Love,” when she says about tonight’s concert experience, “They’re supplying the night and we’re supplying the love!”

We take our seats inside the historic State Theatre auditorium, the sold-out house buzzing with eager fans who cheer as soon as they hear the sound of percussion instruments beginning to play. Lights swirl above the crowd as Toto — Steve Lukather on guitar, Steve Porcaro on keyboards, and Joseph Williams on vocals — in addition to Lenny Castro on percussion, Shem von Schroeck on bass, Warren Ham on sax, Shannon Forrest on drums, and Xavier Talpin on keyboards — takes the stage and opens tonight’s show with the rockin’ “Alone.”

Drums crashing, keyboards swirling, and guitar and bass wailing, stage lights flash as the music surrounds the audience and Joseph Williams sings, “Woah woah/Seems like things ain’t what they used to be” while expertly accompanied by Steve Lukather on guitar.

The crowd cheers as the stage goes black, and the entire audience rises when they hear the keyboard intro to Toto’s 1978 Top 5 hit, written by David Paich, “Hold The Line.” As the audience stands and sings along on the famous “Hold the line/Love isn’t always on time,” chorus, many energetically pump their fists as Steve Lukather thrills the crowd with a wailing guitar solo.

Following whistles and cheers, the group performs an audience favorite from Toto IV — a driving number entitled, “Lovers in the Night.” As Williams sings, “It’s just the soul that matters, and I don’t know why/You know she’s gonna make you cry/You know she’s gonna make you cry,” Steve Porcaro and Xavier Talpin duel on facing keyboards before Warren Ham concludes the tune by playing a smokin’ sax solo.

Steve Lukather greets the crowd stating, “Welcome to our 40th birthday party! We’re gonna play something old and new at the same time.”

Launching into their next number, “Spanish Sea,” African rhythms simmer as the audience claps along. Dancing as they play to the song’s flowing groove, Toto’s tight vocal harmonies resonate throughout the auditorium while synthesizers swirl and strings ring out.

Lukather reveals that he wrote the group’s next song, “I Will Remember,” with Stan Lynch, the original drummer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Describing the composition as a song about “missing people you care about,” Lukather’s smooth vocal contrasts with complex percussion on this rhythmic ballad as he sings, “Even when love has come and gone/And our hearts have moved along/I will remember.”

As he sings, a fan yells out, “I love you, Steve!” before Lukather plays a lyrical guitar solo and Warren Ham concludes the piece with a soprano sax coda which is accompanied by flashing lights.

Joseph Williams handles the lead on “English Eyes.” With it’s rhythmic “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”-like guitar accompaniment, Steve Porcaro dances while he plays his keyboards. Lights swirl as the Toto musicians take the audience on a journey — the ever-changing musical style shifting from rock to smooth jazz to power ballad — all while featuring four-part harmonies.

Steve Lukather’s head nods as he plays a lightning fast guitar solo and the crowd goes wild for his musical mastery, the rest of the band building not only in response to the energy coming from the stage, but from the audience as well!

Starting with a percussion duet and then adding guitar and bass and, soon enough, keyboards, Toto impresses with a fast and funky rendition of “Jake to the Bone.” On this instrumental — reminiscent of the type of ’70s jazz fusion created by electric violinist Jean Luc Ponty — the band is rhythmically tight as they shift to a more complicated meter which contains seven beats per measure. Xavier Talpin solos on his keyboard to cheers and applause, and bassist Seth von Shroek disappears behind drummer Shannon Forrest to better rock alongside him. Lenny Castro’s cymbals and metal gongs crash, swirling his metallic timbres and creating a new rainbow of colors and textures as lights dance overhead and the song changes mood and feel. Morphing into a symphony of speeding rhythm and sound as the musicians walk around the stage sharing their unique energy with one another and the audience, this stellar performance progresses to a dynamic and powerful conclusion!

Following huge applause, Joseph Williams handles the lead on “Lea,” accompanied by Xavier Talpin on this tender Steve Porcaro love ballad.

As five-part vocals croon, “Do you still want me to want you?” Porcaro is featured on keyboards, Steve Lukather plays acoustic guitar, and Warren Ham switches over to alto sax.

The audience cheers its approval before Joseph says, “This is a party song you all know — stand up and sing along!”

The audience stands and cheers as they join in singing on one of the highlight numbers of the evening, Toto’s rendition of David Paich’s 1983 Grammy-winning Record of the Year, “Rosanna.” Lights flash on the audience as they happily sing along, clapping double time on the bridge to the famous “Meet you all the way/Rosanna, yeah” chorus and marveling at Xavier and Steve as they light up the stage on dueling keyboards. Arms swaying, the crowd cheers for Xavier’s keyboard solo, which leads into both a Steve Lukather guitar solo and a Warren Ham tenor solo before the grand conclusion!

“You guys sound great!” exclaims Joseph Williams to the crowd. “You’ve got some singers out there — you’re hired to come along on tour with us,” before adding, “We’ve been together 43 years, and we love New Jersey — this is such a groovy place!”

Stage hands take a moment to place a keyboard and a set of chairs downstage where the performers take seats closer to the audience. At this point, Toto enters a more relaxed and intimate segment of the show where they not only sing and play for their fans, but also tell stories about the songs they perform.

Announces Steve Lukather, “This is from our first album in 1977 — we were 19 years old when we recorded it.” Here, he plays an acoustic 12-string guitar and Warren Ham switches over to flute for a performance of “Georgy Porgy,” a sweet early Toto composition which incorporates lyrics from the famous “Georgy Porgy, pudding pie, kissed the girls and made them cry” nursery rhyme.

Steve Porcaro tells a story which took place at the time the band was working on their landmark album, Toto IV. Recounting, “We only had one more song to mix, and my daughter was crying about her day. She fell off the slide and a boy hit her. I told her he probably liked her and she didn’t understand and kept asking, ‘Why?’”

“I came into the studio — and with my daughter’s words ringing in my ears asking ‘Why?’ — I came up with this next song.”

At this point, Joseph Williams handles the lead on Porcaro’s composition which producer Quincy Jones decided to include on Michael Jackson’s Thriller and it became a Top 10 hit — “Human Nature.”

After Steve Lukather relates that despite the fact that, due to health reasons, Toto founder David Paich is unable to be here on the 40 Trips Around the Suntour, he still sends his love. As a tribute to this founding member, the group performs one of keyboardist Paich’s favorite Toto songs, “Holyanna,” a lively country-rocker which features a prominent honky-tonk keyboard part.

After announcing, “Our sax player, Warren Ham, is a badass harmonica player!” Lukather takes the lead on the country blues number, “No Love.” Then, he and the band conclude this segment of the evening’s show with “Stop Loving You,” a performance which features an acoustic funk arrangement of a number that David Paich and Steve Lukather co-wrote that contains a bebop jazz break.

Stagehands remove the downstage keyboard and chairs, and the band exits the stage to leave Xavier alone at his keyboard for a featured piano solo. At times sounding like he’s playing classical music and at other times sounding like he’s playing jazz, Xavier’s Keith Jarrett-like solo is a treat for the ears as he effortlessly performs a magnificent piano prelude filled with wild arpeggios and runs. Tuneful and expressive, the audience heartily cheers for Xavier’s turn in the spotlight!

The rest of the Toto band returns for a hard-driving number with an intricate rhythm section accompaniment, “Girl Goodbye,” all heads nodding as they rock.

While introducing the members of the group, Steve Lukather reveals that the group’s 26-year-old keyboardist, Xavier Talpin — who previously worked with Prince — “came into the band with only two days rehearsal” after founder David Paich had to bow out of the tour. He also confesses that bassist Shem von Schroek was “stolen from Don Felder’s band,” and that, in addition to being Toto’s drummer, Shannon Forrest is also “known for producing the latest album by singer Michael McDonald.”

Toto sets the house on fire with their performance of “Lion,” a progressive funk song featuring five-part vocal harmonies. As the musicians move about the stage to the funky rhythm, Warren Ham grooves on his tenor sax solo and Steve Lukather plays a killer guitar solo while audience members cheer.

Following a live rendition of the space-age orchestral sounding music which Toto originally created for the soundtrack to the film, Dune, Lukather explains, “Since this is our 40th year of touring, we can do some more obscure songs!” 

Noting, “Here’s one that everyone will know,” he adds, “This one’s for George,” as Lukather and the band segue into George Harrison’s composition for The Beatles, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” With lights raining down like heaven’s rays onto the musicians as they perform in memory of Harrison, Lukather plays a Jimi Hendrix-inspired guitar solo on which he shows why he is one of the premiere rock guitarists in the world. Sounding distorted — yet perfectly controlled — Lukather’s solo soars out over the audience provoking the crowd to spring to their feet while screaming and applauding with approval!

Moving on to another audience-pleaser from Toto IV, the group performs “Make Believe.” Ham’s sax screams and audience members happily join in with the band on the tune’s famous “Why don’t we make believe we’re in love again” lyric.

“Are you guys ready to sing along?” asks Williams. “I want to hear everyone singing!” As drums and percussion groove, the entire house is up on its feet singing along as Toto performs the David Paich/Jeff Porcaro-penned #1 hit from 1983, “Africa.” After singing the famous “I bless the rains down in Africa” chorus, Lenny Castro and Shannon Forrest take a percussion break which features complex African rhythms that audience members dance to. Their arms and hands flying as the beats from the stage reverberate throughout the theater, Williams initiates a call and response session where he sings a variety of intruiging melodic phrases and, one by one, the audience echoes each one back to him.

“New Brunswick, you sound fantastic!” exclaims Williams, before percussionist Castro joins in signing an unamplified vocal descant to the audience’s vocalizations.

Following a soulful Warren Ham soprano sax coda, the song ends to cheers and applause as the band throws kisses to their fans!

The group takes leave of the stage, but the crowd continues to hoot and holler until the musicians return. Lukather takes the mic and explains that after their song, “Africa,” was covered by the band, Weezer, Toto reciprocated by recording a Weezer song. Referring to the number as “something out of our wheelhouse,” Lukather nevertheless promises that he and the band will “give it all they can.”

Proving that this band can play anything, Toto performs their rendition of Weezer’s headbanging rocker, “Hash Pipe.” As Joseph Williams screams, “Oh, come on and kick me!” lights circle and strobe, and Steve Porcaro is featured on a swirling keyboard solo.

As the crowd continues to whistle and applaud, the entire group makes its way downstage and takes a bow together as Williams exclaims, “Thank you, New Jersey! We’ll see you next time!”

While audience members make their way out of the auditorium, we take a moment to chat with keyboardist Xavier Talpin who tells us, “I love being a part of Toto; it’s amazing! It’s like everything I ever dreamed, to be able to play with people I admire.”

When asked about the inspiration for his outstanding keyboard solo, Xavier confesses, “I just made it up on the spot!”

Explaining how he was able to prepare himself to play Toto’s music in just two days, Talpin reveals, “I spent 18 hours straight just learning the music,” before declaring, “Hey! When Toto asks you to join them in two days, you just do it!”

Out in the State Theatre lobby, we chat with several music lovers who share their opinions of tonight’s concert with us.

First, we talk to a family from Harrison who came to enjoy Toto’s music together — Mark and his adult daughters, Erica and Caitlin.

Says Mark about tonight’s show, “Toto was great!” After acknowledging, “I was super psyched — just hearing ‘Africa’ alone was worth coming!” Mark concludes by stating, “Now I can cross this off my bucket list!”

Mark’s daughter, Erica, comments, “This concert was so good!” Explaining, “My sister and I have a cool dad — he raised us on the music of Toto, in addition to Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, and Fleetwood Mac,” Erica adds, “and Toto’s rendition of ‘Hash Pipe’ was excellent!”

Erica’s sister, Caitlin, agrees with her sibling stating, “This show was fantastic! I loved all the classic songs,” before noting, “It was so exciting to hear all of the songs I grew up with.”

Next, we converse with friends Sharon from East Brunswick and her friend, Bree, from Union.

Relates Sharon, “I loved this show — Toto is really good,” before noting, “and we love coming to shows here at the State Theatre.”

Bree concurs, adding, “It doesn’t matter where you sit — every seat is great in this theater, and they also have a wide variety of shows to choose from.”

Lastly, we chat with Dan from North Brunswick who says, “I love Toto — I’ve been a fan since I was a kid.”

Continuing, “‘Rosanna’ was amazing and you can’t top ‘Africa!’” Dan concludes by exclaiming, “It was just freakin’ amazing!”

To learn more about Toto, please go to totoofficial.com. For information on upcoming performances at New Brunwick’s State Theatre — including Melissa Etheridge’s Holiday Show on Nov. 30 , John Mellencamp on February 23, 2019, and Art Garfunkel on March 15, 2019 — please go to stnj.org.

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Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

Thursday, November 21, 2024 @ 7:30pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
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Randall Goosby Returns: Renaissance Quartet

Thursday, November 21, 2024 @ 7:30pm
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Renaissance Quartet Brings Bold Innovation and Classical Mastery to McCarter Theatre on Thursday

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Prepare to be captivated by the Renaissance Quartet, featuring violinists Randall Goosby and Jeremiah Blacklow, violist Jameel Martin, and cellist Daniel Hass. Graduates of the Juilliard School and mentored by the legendary Itzhak Perlman, the Quartet brings a unique blend of classical mastery and innovative flair to McCarter Theatre on Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 7:30pm. Known for reimagining chamber music traditions, this New York based ensemble combines technical excellence with a bold, forward-thinking approach that appeals to a diverse audience.

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State Theatre New Jersey presents Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with support from New Breed Brass Band