I was impressed with how well 61-year old Bobby Kimball's singing was on this tour. Many of these Toto songs have some dangerously high notes that could have easily embarrassed a lesser man, but Kimball handled them with ease. I have already stated my admiration for Steve Lukather's guitar heroics in many other reviews of his work, and he certainly lives up to the billing on this DVD. You not only get a six minute guitar solo, where he plays everything from eclectic jazz to screaming metal, but he really gets to strut his stuff on such guitar-heavy tracks as "Falling In Between", "Kingdom Of Desire", and "Gypsy Train".
As much as I enjoyed the excellent performance by Toto, the most impressive thing about this DVD was the remarkable production quality. This is easily one of the best produced concert DVDs I have in my collection - right up there with the Eagles Farewell I Tour, Roger Waters In The Flesh Live, Concert For George, and David Gilmour Remember That Night. Not only do you get to choose between two first rate Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo audio mixes, but you are also treated to one of the best DTS 5.1 surround tracks my system has ever had the pleasure of pumping out.
The picture is delivered via a stunningly impressive anamorphic widescreen presentation that expertly captures the band's colorful light show. The camera work deserves special accolades as well. Rarely are you subjected to the hyper-fast camera angle changes that seem to be the standard these days, and the director was familiar enough with the music to focus on the right musicians at all the right times.
Toto are a group of musicians-musicians, so there were fret-burning and cymbal-crashing close-ups aplenty, but the thing I appreciated the most were the abundance of slow, sweeping, long-range shots that really allow you to soak in the entire stage show. The director makes you feel like you are right there in the crowd.
The bonus features consist of interviews with each of the Toto band members. Some of them were quite interactive, with Luke demonstrating each of the effects pedals in his pedal board, and Philips and Phillinganes each demonstrating how they play some of the key parts in a few of the songs. A 10-page color booklet full of tour photos is also included.
Article comments
1 - Matt Wardlaw
I didn't realize this was officially out there. I am going to have to go track this one down.
Hopefully you've got Lukather's new solo disc. It's great!
2 - Paul Roy
I haven't picked up Luke's new CD yet? I'm glad to here you think it is great. I was expecting it to be.