REUNION OF FRIENDS
Toto returns to stage to headline ‘Dogz of Oz’ tour with stop at Revel
Steve Lukather is ready to be back on the road. It’s because he has some new old friends that have come back on tour. “Shannon Forrest and Greg Phillinganes are back with us,” he says. “We are feeling fresh and have a new set list.”
Lukather is a member of the rock band Toto. The band is currently on its “Dogz of Oz” tour, which will make a stop at Revel Entertainment Center on Saturday, March 23.
Toto is 46 years into its music career. “Our first show was in January of 1977,” he says. “We were just some punk kids. No one was older than 22. We were doing studio work and we thought that we’d make a run at having a career in music. Looks like it’s worked out.”
Toto’s 2024 touring line up includes Lukather, Joseph Williams, Phillinganes, Forrest, John Pierce, Warren Ham and Steve Maggiora.
Over the past decade, Toto has had a major renaissance in popularity like few bands at this point in their career.
The total plays of the band’s collected works across all platforms is now approaching five billion.
Amongst the most listened to recordings, “Africa” accounts for over one billion streams at Spotify alone. The song was recertified by the RIAA 8-times platinum.
“Seeing our music have this staying power and resurgence is amazing,” Lukather says. “It’s been a lot of hard work to keep this band in place.”
Lukather says he’s always wanted to perform and gets the same feeling he had as a child.
“Once you get people screaming, it pumps me up,” he says. “That’s one part that never gets old. It’s the greatest rush in the world to be able to do that. It’s the most amazing job on planet earth.”
Lukather also doesn’t take anything for granted.
“I realized how fortunate and blessed I am,” he says. “All I wanted when I was young was to have a long career. I’ve been doing this since 1977 and I’m the old guy now going out there and having a blast.”
Lukather says with 17 albums, there are a lot of songs to choose from to create the set list.
“We know we have to play the big hits,” he says. “We try to fill out the set with deep cuts for our hardcore fans.”