Toto Auckland concert review: Hits for Africa as soft rock legends dazzle with technical brilliance

Steve Lukather, from American rock band Toto, who played Auckland's Spark Arena with support act Christopher Cross on Wednesday night, before heading to Wellington and Christchurch. Photo / Jennifer de Koning

Christopher Cross and Toto, Spark Arena, April 23.

There was no hiding from nostalgia at Spark Arena last night. There was no point trying to.

For some of us of a certain age, it doesn’t get much more nostalgic than the hits of Christopher Cross and Toto.

The smooth yacht rock of Cross’ Sailing takes us back to that baking summer of 80/81, the haze on a long beach, AM radio and the scorching hot vinyl of a Holden bench seat.

Toto’s biggest hit song Africa delivers another level of cultural connection.

It’s a song that soundtracked thousands of school discos, equal parts sophisticated, silly and epic.

Christopher Cross at Auckland's Spark Arena. Photo / Jennifer de Koning

But its stature has only grown over the years. It’s now loved by multiple generations, rightly recognised as a highwater mark for the kind of slick soft rock production that defined the chart hits of the late 1970s and early ’80s.

Of course, the late 1970s and early ’80s are a long time ago – 45 years or so.

A similar-aged nostalgia act in 1980 would have been playing the hits of 1935!

So the big question for a gig like this is, can the artists, with ageing vocal cords and multiple new band members, still deliver?

The answer is a resounding yes, for both acts.

These guys have a tight show, and they’re in great shape.

Cross, who tells us proudly that he’s 74 next week, looks in better shape than he was at the Grammys in 1981 (where he took home a clean sweep of major awards).

Slim and snappily dressed in a blue suit and hat, his voice has lost none of its sweet harmonic tone.

Christopher Cross was snappily dressed on stage at Auckland's Spark Arena on Wednesday night. Photo / Jennifer de Koning

While he might now lack some of the power to push up into the big chorus of songs like Arthur’s Theme (when you get caught between the moon and New York City...), he is cleverly supported by a glamorous trio of backing singers.

His whole band was great: jazzy, smooth and everything you’d expect from a yacht rock legend.

Musical virtuosity was a big part of the show for both bands.

This is rock music from a universe where punk never happened. It’s clear and precise, subtle, and everyone gets a solo.

Which is a good thing in this context.

Both bands have an impressive catalogue of hits, but it’s also a long show.

Between them, they delivered three hours of music. If you just came to hear Africa, it might have been a long night.

Steve Lukather, of American rock band Toto, at Auckland's Spark Arena on Wednesday night. Photo / Jennifer de Koning

But these are world-class musicians from a golden era of pop and rock, a big part of the joy of the evening is just hearing them play.

Toto was famously put together from Los Angeles’s hottest session musicians in the late 1970s.

Members of Toto have worked with everyone from Steely Dan and Michael McDonald to Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

The last of the original line-up, band leader, lead guitarist and vocalist Steve Lukather was in fine form.

He was one of three lead singers – with another two band members taking things up to five-part harmonies at times.

For the highest lead parts, Toto has found a 27-year-old prodigy in Dennis Atlas and full-throated glam metal singer and keyboard player.

When it gels, it really gels.

All the hits sounded great: Rosanna, Georgy Porgy, Hold the Line.

Others from the early years (I’ll Supply the Love, I Won’t Hold You Back, 99) that didn’t get the radio play were familiar and had the crowd on their feet.

All Toto's hits sounded great at their Spark Arena show. Photo / Jennifer de Koning

As a band of musicians, they pack a lot into their set.

Sometimes Toto are jazz-infused yacht rock, sometimes they’re synth-heavy prog rock and (quite a lot of the time) they’re classic 80s hair metal.

Sometimes, they’re all of that in one song.

Can it all get a bit too much? Well, not for the real fans, obviously.

And a Toto gig is always going to be as much about our virtuosity as it is about tunes and...actually, never mind, here comes Africa.

It’s just one song. But what a song, and Toto doesn’t disappoint.

They deliver Auckland an epic piece of stadium rock magic, the kind that doesn’t come around that much anymore.

Toto and Christopher Cross play Wellington’s TSB Arena tonight and Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena on Saturday, April 26.