Date: July 15, 2010 Venue: Piazza Grande – Moon And Stars Town: Locarno (Switzerland)

[voto: 4.5]

Moon And Stars is an event that is held since 2004 in the picturesque Piazza Grande in Locarno, a few dozen meters from Lake Maggiore. Each year, many artists of international status come here and for two weeks Locarno becomes a city of music (and not a single inhabitant of the town collect signatures against these concerts) and this year, the evening with Toto and Earth Wind & Fire co-headlining is undoubtedly the most meaty to me.

"Boogie Wonderland" opens literally the dance with the twelve Earth, Wind & Fire musicians playing wild and ready to rock the crowd. Funky and 70s disco hits follow one another almost without a pause, the set is composed by a compilation of their most famous songs: "September", "Fantasy", "After The Love Has Gone" and "Sing A Song" among others.
One hour and twenty-five minutes of great fun offered by an ensemble of unexceptionable and vocally resounding musicians. Thinking that some of them are now in their sixties is truly incredible.

After a twenty minute break, it comes the moment I eagerly awaited for. I have attended several Toto concerts but I never had the chance to see Joseph Williams with them, the singer of "The Seventh One" (and "Fahrenheit"), the record that made me discover them when I was a boy and that is within my ten desert island cds.
The circumstances, unfortunately, are not happy, since this temporary reunion and the short European tour are organized to honor the historic bass player Mike Porcaro who contracted Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS.
Legendary bassist Nathan East, known for having played with Phil Collins and Eric Clapton among others, has been called to stand in for Mike in this tour.

The band strikes up with the epic and pompous instrumental "Child's Anthem" and we are soon able to catch the excellent shape of the musicians and their desire to become a single entity with the crowd, with Steve Lukather who demands and urge the audience's chorus. After the instrumental introduction, here comes Joseph Williams on stage and since the first vocalizations of "Till The End" the impression is that this will be a great night indeed, his throat is in good shape. The harmony between the various members of the band is palpable and seeing for the first time on stage Steve Porcaro and Joseph Williams was really exciting for me.
Luke is histrionic as always, David Paich is a scene stealer when he does not "hide" behind the keys and a true maestro when he plays, the groove imposed from East and veteran Simon Phillips is pure passion and I should also mention the great voices of the two back-up vocalists Jory Steinberg and Mabvuto Carpenter.
The long instrumental parts performed during the last tours are not played except for a short keyboards solo; maybe because of the short setlist but this time the songs are at the core of the show: "Pamela", "Home Of The Brave", "Georgy Porgy" (with the intro "stolen" from EWF's "Can't Hide Love" and to them dedicated by Luke), "Stop Loving You".
The setlist covers only the first ten years of Toto career, with songs pulled out from the 1978 debut album to the 1988 "The Seventh One"; if I have to complain about something, I have to say that I would have liked a few more songs from Williams' two records even if some classic should have been dropped. "Only The Children", "Straight For The Heart" or "Could This Be Love" would have been perfect for me.

In the next months a DVD should be released with the whole concert held in Copenhagen a few days later, I recommend the purchase to all the fans who could not reach Locarno.

A last thought goes to the great Mike Porcaro, a player who gave Toto so much both on stage and live.

Band:

Joseph Williams - lead vocals
Steve Lukather - guitars, lead vocals
David Paich - keyboards, lead vocals
Steve Porcaro - keyboards
Nathan East - bass, backing vocals
Simon Phillips - drums
Jory Steinberg - lead & backing vocals
Mabvuto Carpenter - lead & backing vocals

Setlist:

01. Child's Anthem
02. Till The End
03. Afraid Of Love
04. Lovers In The Night
05. Pamela
06. Georgy Porgy
07. Somewhere Tonight
08. Keyboards solo
09. Stop Loving You
10. Africa
11. Rosanna
ENCORE
12. Home Of The Brave
13. Hold The Line