Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Blu-ray Movie Review

All or nothing at all.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 30, 2014

Note: This review is for the Deluxe Limited Edition of this release, which comes housed in a hardback book and includes bonus CDs and a DVD along with the Blu-ray. For price conscious fans, there's a standalone Blu-ray release provides all of the Blu-ray content at a fraction of the price: Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour.

The seventies and eighties were awash in so-called “supergroups” that often seemed as interchangeable as their one word names: bands like Journey, Kansas, and, yes, Toto. All three of these outfits churned out remarkably catchy singles and albums, often with lustrous musicianship and piercing vocals, but none of these three (and several other similar bands) ever seem to get any kind of critical acclaim. The interesting liner notes included in the hardback book that comes with this Deluxe Edition has some passing allusions to the critical backlash the band seemed to face not just in its start up period, but ironically the more successful they ultimately became, especially in the early years of the eighties. But he who laughs last laughs best, and it seems that the members of Toto are not just consigned to their supposedly ignominious critical fate, but actually kind of celebrate it, since they’ve come out richer both figuratively and literally. There’s a tenacious quality to Toto, one also evinced by the band’s triumphant struggle through several potentially devastating situations, including the untimely death of founding member Jeff Porcaro and the similarly shocking diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) for Jeff’s brother Mike, a condition which took Mike out of the band and continued touring. While perhaps not quite at the same intrinsic emotional level as these two, one time vocalist Fergie Frederiksen also just passed away, but the current band members (including yet another Porcaro brother, Steve) seem resolute in their efforts to keep playing and enjoying the music that made them famous.

Toto has had perhaps more than its fair share of “revolving door syndrome” with regard to various members coming and going through the years, and yet the band’s sound—which some have dismissed for being too prefab for its own good— has remained surprisingly consistent. Is there a high level sheen to everything that Toto does? Absolutely. As the liner notes included in the hardback book also make clear, the many Toto members who have been part of the Los Angeles session scene for literally decades didn’t get there through sloppy craftsmanship. And so that gloss may be both one of Toto’s greatest accomplishments but also ironically one of the things that “down and dirty” rock fans find most objectionable about the band. What this high energy Polish concert from the band’s 2013 world tour makes very clear is that Toto can indeed rock, albeit with one ear perched firmly on radio ready hooks.

One of the happy accidents of the band having new members (or returning members come back to the fold) is the discovery of such amazing talents as Joseph Williams, who originally worked with Toto in the late eighties for several years, but who has come back to perform with the band since around 2010. Williams’ distinctively clear and resonant tenor gives the band a definite edge in the vocal department, especially since co-vocalist Steve Lukather tends to work in the lower part of his register, which is naturally harder to hear in the mass of instruments. While the band doesn’t depart too dramatically from some of the original versions in this concert, there is attention paid to longer solo sections that lets each of these great musicians stretch out at appropriate moments. Lukather’s guitar work is especially fluid in longer takes on well known songs like “Rosanna”.

Toto's name has sometimes incorrectly been attributed to Dorothy's little dog from The Wizard of Oz (something that might give Toto a tangential connection to one of those other bands listed above, Kansas). The name actually refers to the Latin word for "all". It's an appropriate moniker for a band that continues to mine a rather wide variety of genres and styles in its continuing pursuit of melodic, well structured pop-rock. Critics may continue to pooh-pooh the band, but the fans continue to make it clear that Toto is providing a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people.

The band’s set list is comprised of:

• Intro 13
• On the Run/Child’s Anthem/Goodbye Elenore Medley
• Goin’ Home
• Hydra
• St. George and the Dragon
• I’ll Be Over You
• It’s a Feeling
• Rosanna
• Wings of Time
• Falling in Between
• I Won’t Hold You Back
• Pamela
• 99
• The Muse
• White Sister
• Better World
• Africa
• How Many Times
• Stop Loving You
• Hold the Line
• Home of the Brave (Encore)

Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Live in Poland is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. Once again, the wizards who seem to do every arena concert's stage lighting have opted for regular uses of deep blues and reds, two choices which tend to create minor but still noticeable results like posterizing and a definite lack of fine detail. The concert utilizes quite a few "bells and whistles", including black and white segments, split screens and superimposed imagery, all of which are shown in some of the screenshots accompanying this review. In relatively normal light (and in the black and white sequences), close-ups do reveal some excellent fine detail. The interlaced presentation leads to occasional minor combing artifacts in things like hands quickly strumming over a guitar's strings. Contrast is very strong throughout this presentation, and overall the image is sharp, clear and stable looking.

Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Aside from a couple of niggling concerns with regard to the mix, both the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mixes offered on this Blu-ray offer almost startlingly clear and well defined audio. The 5.1 mix is definitely the way to go, though, for it provides both greater spatial separation between the massed multi-keyboards and guitars, it also adds measurably to most tracks' low end. The one downside to the 5.1 track is when Lukather sings in his lowest range, which tends to be slightly buried in the mix at times. Williams' voice on the other hand easily cuts through the instrumentation and is like a clarion call a lot of the time. Fidelity is extremely strong and authentic sounding, to the point that some may wish for a little less audience noise.

Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the standalone Blu-ray release as well as the Blu-ray included in this Deluxe Edition contain the following on disc supplement:

• Behind the Scenes (1080i; 20:14) is a fun compilation of kind of rowdy interview segments with various scenes of the guys on tour and performing.

This Deluxe Edition comes housed in a hardback book full of better than average liner notes, lots of photos of the band and along with the Blu- ray, 2 bonus CDs, as well as a DVD version of the concert. (Pictures of this deluxe packaging can be seen in screenshots 12-14 accompanying this review.)

• Bonus CDs offer the entire show spread across two CDs:

  CD 1
  
  

  Intro 13

  On the Run/Child's Anthem/Goodbye Elenore Medley

  Goin' Home

  Hydra

  St. George and the Dragon

  I'll Be Over You

  It's a Feeling

  Rosanna

  Wings of Time

  Falling in Between

  I Won't Hold You Back

  Pamela

  
  
  CD 2
  
  

  99

  The Muse

  White Sister

  Better World

  Africa

  How Many Times

  Stop Loving You

  Hold the Line

  Home of the Brave (Encore)

Toto: 35th Anniversary Tour Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Toto fans have two choices on Blu-ray with this new release. For the price conscious, there's a standalone Blu-ray release which offers the entire concert and the sole bonus featurette on one Blu-ray. For completely rabid fans who don't mind paying a premium price, this deluxe set offers a very handsomely packaged set that includes an oversized hardback book which includes lots of glossy pictures and four discs (the Blu-ray, a DVD and two CDs). This Polish concert proves that Toto still delivers some fantastically well crafted music, played with panache and polish by a coterie of incredibly distinguished musicians. Highly recommended.