Toto goes the distance on its ‘An Evening With’ tour

Toto headlined arenas last summer while on a tour with Men at Work and Christopher Cross. The veteran band enjoyed the jaunt, but since its support acts played healthy sets, Toto was limited to 15 songs a night.

There are no deep cuts during such tours. However, Toto has embarked on a long-awaited "An Evening With" run, which stops Thursday at the Capitol Theatre in Davenport.

"We haven't had a chance to do this for a little while," vocalist Joseph Williams said while calling from his Los Angeles home. "We're very much looking forward to these shows for a variety of reasons. We get to stretch out our set since there aren't time constraints. We get to do much more. We're rehearsing a new set right now. You'll hear the hits but you'll also experience some deep, deep cuts. The other bonus is that fans will get to experience longer solos from Luke, and you'll get more of his humor since he'll have more time to talk on stage. Luke is hilarious."

Luke is Toto vocalist-guitarist Steve Lukather, who is one of rock's great characters and performers. Lukather is also an underrated guitarist.

"Luke is a tremendous player, and he never follows a script when he interacts with the audience," Williams said. "He's just so talented. Look at the songs he and (vocalist-keyboardist) David (Paich) have written."

"Africa," "Rosanna" and "Hold the Line" are just some of Toto's hits. "Africa" "has been streamed more than one billion times. The classic tune is receiving more play now than it did a generation ago.

The Grammy-winning band received an unlikely boost from Weezer, who surprisingly covered "Africa" in 2018 after a teenage fan implored the quirky alt-rock band to craft a version of the atmospheric ode to the dark continent. Weezer's paint by the numbers version became a shocking smash hit, topping the alternative chart.

The song's success is ironic since Toto reluctantly added "Africa" to 1982's "Toto IV."

"We never thought 'Africa' would connect with an audience," Lukather said while calling from Los Angeles. "We thought it was the kind of song that's the final track of an album at best. I remember laughing when David brought in the lyrics. He wrote about going to the Serengeti. I was like 'David, what are you talking about? We're a band from North Hollywood and you have us in the Serengeti!’“

"Africa" was a rare Toto song that featured Paich as lead vocalist.

"I wanted to see what could happen with the song and it started blossoming," Paich said while calling from Los Angeles. "It started to come together, but I was told to save it for my solo album."

If Paich, who only tours with Toto occasionally, followed his band's advice, "Africa" wouldn't have seen the light of day until 2022 when his solo debut "Forgotton Toys“ dropped.

Toto, which crafts rock, funk and soul, has the tunes and the fan base that ensures they will be around for a long time. If genetics mean anything, Williams, 65, has many years left as a performer. His father is iconic film composer John Williams, who is still working. The 94-year-old legend, who composed the music for such Steven Spielberg classics as "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," is working on a forthcoming film with his legendary pal, one of Hollywood's greatest directors.

"I'm not sure I'll have his longevity," Williams said. "But it's inspiring to see that he's still working and still working with Steven."

Music was the obvious focal point for Williams while growing up in Hollywood.

"Music was certainly the first language of our house," Williams said. "It was an amazing childhood. What else would I do but work in music?"

When Williams isn't touring with Toto, he spends as much time as possible with his father.

"We watch a lot of baseball and football together," Williams said. "He's recovering from a stroke he had two years ago. He's almost entirely back. He still gets up and plays the piano. He still has it. I'll miss him when I go out on the road with Toto but going out with Toto is what I do. I love being in this band. I've been in this group for a long time and it continues to be such an amazing experience."

Williams replaced original vocalist Bobby Kimball in 1986 but Toto formed in 1977. The group, which has sold more than 50 million albums, started as session players who became much sought after studio musicians.

Lukather's credits include Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time," Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back" and Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry." The topper is that Lukather and his Toto bandmates were essentially the house band for Michael Jackson when the King of Pop crafted "Thriller" in 1982.

"Michael Jackson's whole persona was weird but he was great to work with," Lukather said. "(Producer) David Foster recommended me to Quincy Jones who took a shine to me. He picked me to play on ‘Human Nature’ and I came up with the guitar part on the spot, and then there was ‘Beat It,’ which was a debacle due to the editing process. I put a (bleep) ton of guitars on it and did the overdubs and Ed (Van Halen) came in to play his solo."

Williams loves playing with a guitarist the caliber of Lukather.

"There's no one like Luke, and there's no band like Toto," Williams said.