TOTO plays classic favorites in Beaver Creek Tuesday

Since 1977, a tight band and high-quality musicianship have been TOTO’s theme, said singer Joseph Williams. The classic rock band has been performing with Journey’s 50^th anniversary Freedom Tour, but on April 9, TOTO has the stage all to itself to play favorites and deeper cuts that “so far, have gotten audiences on their feet,” he said.

Williams and original lead guitarist Steve Lukather, aka Luke, form the core of TOTO’s Dogz of Oz Tour, which comprises 14 headlining shows throughout North America. It’s interspersed with their 30 appearances earlier this year — which finish up this month — supporting Journey before the two bands tour Europe.

“As long-tenured members of the band, Joe and I want to be on the road continuing to keep the original legacy of the band alive, bringing the music to our multi-generational fan base,” Lukather said. “In 2023, it was truly humbling to perform in front of close to a million fans. And for 2024, we’ll stage appearances in front of even more across the globe. I’ve spent more than four and a half decades of my life nurturing this legacy, while enabling the music to continually exist in the live concert setting.”

Williams, who originally joined TOTO in 1986, then rejoined in 2010, said the two have been through a lot with one another.

“Our creative partnership has always enriched our lives,” Williams said. “As we look ahead, there is nothing but anticipation to bring everything in our minds to life. I can’t think of anyone else on Earth I’d rather collaborate with. He is a lifelong, loyal and gifted friend and bandmate. We’ve become The Dogz of Oz.”

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“Hold The Line” became the band’s first hit, peaking at No. 5 in 1978 on TOTO’s self-titled debut album, which won a Grammy for producer of the year. Other Grammy awards followed, including three for “Rosanna” in 1983, in the form of record of the year, best vocal arrangement for two or more voices and best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocals. TOTO IV also won album of the year.

Williams credits songs like “Rosanna,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, and “Africa,” the band’s only single that topped the charts at No. 1 in 1982, as the “real” reason TOTO has continued to remain popular throughout the decades. Though, he also points to the high level of musicianship in the band.

“‘Africa’ had so many different lives — as a Weezer cover, in TV and movies and as rap songs — that it has consistently been in the consciousness, and it holds up after all these years,” he said. “They’re based on great musicianship and the studio musicians who came together. It’s stellar musicianship — almost virtuoso level.”

TOTO’s sound has evolved throughout the decades, from the original album’s R&B flavor to the 1980s streamlined rock vibe, in order to remain relevant within the music industry. It also changed with various band lineups — in the first decade, TOTO went through three different singers, and, for a time period in the 1990s, it was left with no real lead vocalist, Williams said.

In 2018, the band released its greatest hits album, “40 Trips Around the Sun.” It included 14 tracks from 1978 to 1993 and three previously unreleased recordings: “Spanish Sea,” “Alone” and “Struck by Lightning.” The musicians originally recorded “Spanish Sea” in 1984, so they rerecorded it, singing alongside their former 20-some selves and deceased members Jeff and Mike Porcaro, which reminded them “just how deep their groove was,” Lukather said in written notes about the album.

Greg Phillinganes, vocalist and keyboardist for TOTO in the early 2000s, and Shannon Forrest, the band’s drummer from 2015-19, return to the current lineup, which also includes bassist John Pierce, keyboardist and vocalist Steve Maggiora and Warren Ham on horns, percussion and vocals.

“Over the past decade, TOTO has had a major renaissance in popularity like few bands at this point in their career,” according to a TOTO press release. “They are pop culture, and one of the few ’70s bands that have endured the changing trends and styles while continuing to remain relevant.”

And, members like Williams don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

“I still love it,” he said. “I’m a road dog — I like being on the road. The travel is tough sometimes, but touring is great. We’ve all known each other since we were young guys 50 years ago, and everyone gets along and still gets very excited to do the shows.”