When Toto bring their 40 Trips Around the Sun 40th anniversary tour to a close on Sunday at The Met in Philadelphia, that could be the end of the line.
Guitarist Steve Lukather says, “We worked really hard and this is a great way to [go out]… I don’t know what the future-future’s gonna be, but I do know that’s gonna be the last show in Philly for the foreseeable future. And certainly the end of this configuration of Toto…
“This kind of lifestyle is way harder than people think it is. They just think that we float around from city to city magically and live a life of luxury. And I’m not saying that we travel poorly, but it’s a burden to be away from your family 230 days a year, like me.”
But it’s not just the road that is causing issues. There’s legal battles with their former record label, as well as their former singer Bobby Kimball.
“Another bummer of our situation and why we’re calling it a day,” he says. “We’ve had some horrendous litigation. Horrendous, horrendous, awful, mean, you-gotta-be-kidding-me kind of lawsuits, and we lost the suit. So it beat us down.
“So we gotta get away from this. We gotta get away from the whole thing.”
Lukather and Steve Porcaro are the only original members left, with David Paich sidelined for medical reasons.
This is not the first time Toto has gone bye-bye. They pulled the plug in 2008.
As for Lukather, he’ll continue to tour with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. He has a new album coming out next year along with a tour, and he’s working on his second autobiography.
Before Philly on Sunday, Toto are in Connecticut at Foxwoods tomorrow night and New Jersey on Saturday.
