Did Bobby make a pact with Satan?

[The_Noble_Cause]

Seriously, a sixty year old man has no business still singing this good.
I have no choice but to suspect netherworld forces may have been consulted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoI2i4q-I6c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJdxCQHe2BE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI2wtOOOdyc

[jrnyman28]

Is Pamela slowed down a little bit?

[brandonx76]

Is Pamela slowed down a little bit?

The groove's not as "poppy" (You can't replace Jeff)..I've noticed Simon slowing things down a bit lately though. Not a complaint, Simon rocks, just different...Sounds pretty good for an audience shot.

[WalrusOct9]

I'm pretty sure they use a click track since some songs have taped backing vocals ("Pamela," most notably...you can still hear Joeseph in the choruses if you listen close enough on a well-recorded bootleg) or minor keyboard effects or samples (like "Falling In Between"), so the songs should be the same tempo every night.

"Pamela" is definitely to a click since aside from the vocals, Simon also plays to a percussion loop, similar to what they do on "Africa" live. (rather than having an extra live percussionist onstage like they did in the 80's and 90's)

[The_Noble_Cause]

I'm pretty sure they use a click track since some songs have taped backing vocals

I'd go so far as to say most songs have backing vocals.
When I saw them live it was real noticeable.
Seemed like nobodys mouth was even moving in synch with the choruses.
But, hey, back-up vox is so widespread in the industry, it's really no biggie.

[Toto_fan]

No he's no a deal with the devil.

I've seen the band a couple of times and have tons of bootlegs and bobby do sound very terrible in some. I remember a concert in Jönköping Sweden a big concert then he sounded really bad.

But most shows he sound very very good indeed and I'm impresed by him a man in that age touring so heavelay as Toto does sounding so good!

[WalrusOct9]

But, hey, back-up vox is so widespread in the industry, it's really no biggie.

It really bothers me...but I suppose there isn't much I can do about it. I think if they had one extra musician plus Tony Spinner, they wouldn't need to use tapes. It's just annoying watching Bobby lip-synch whenever the song gets to the choruses of stuff like "Home Of The Brave" and "Africa." His lead vocals are all live (and awesome) but whenever there's harmonies, he's definitely not singing.

[The_Noble_Cause]

It's just annoying watching Bobby lip-synch whenever the song gets to the choruses of stuff like "Home Of The Brave" and "Africa." His lead vocals are all live (and awesome) but whenever there's harmonies, he's definitely not singing.

Yeah.
I wonder how are they doing the choruses for "Bottom of Your Soul" on tour?
Did they remove Williams from the chorus?

[WalrusOct9]

Tony Spinner sings the chorus. I'm not sure if there's "artificial" help but I do know Tony is live. Bobby puts all his energy into lip-synching with him, but it's obvious you're not hearing any of his vocals over the speakers.

The thing that gets me with the taped vocals, is that it's so obvious with a singer like Bobby. I love Bobby's voice, but he's a belter, not a smooth right-on singer like Steve Perry or Joe Williams. Every note is kind of an adventure, but I think that's what appeals to me about him...when he's on, he sounds amazing, but it's a style of singing that a) doesn't blend with other singers and b) isn't always wonderfully in-tune. So when he goes from belting a verse to sounding 100% smooth and on-pitch in a chorus, it's a bit odd to watch.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Tony Spinner sings the chorus. I'm not sure if there's "artificial" help but I do know Tony is live. Bobby puts all his energy into lip-synching with him, but it's obvious you're not hearing any of his vocals over the speakers.

The thing that gets me with the taped vocals, is that it's so obvious with a singer like Bobby. I love Bobby's voice, but he's a belter, not a smooth right-on singer like Steve Perry or Joe Williams. Every note is kind of an adventure, but I think that's what appeals to me about him...when he's on, he sounds amazing, but it's a style of singing that a) doesn't blend with other singers and b) isn't always wonderfully in-tune. So when he goes from belting a verse to sounding 100% smooth and on-pitch in a chorus, it's a bit odd to watch.

Yes, it's quite jarring to see Bobby belting his lungs out, sweat pouring out from every pore, and yet you can't hear him at all.
His voice is so vociferous that it steamrolls mostly everything in its path.
Which makes it all the more flagrantly obvious during the choruses when u can't hear a lick.

[WalrusOct9]

Yeah, if you listen to early bootlegs when he was actually singing choruses, it's a little off sometimes, but I'd rather have that and have it be all live than something that sounds just like a studio album.

The rest of Toto's show absolutely kicks fucking ass, but you can't help but notice the tapes...i was hoping maybe they'd cut down on them now that Greg's in the band, as he's a stronger singer than Dave is, but it's not to be. (Greg live though is something to witness, just from watching you'd never guess that he'd only been in the band for a short time...he's got really great stage presence for keyboard player too, as well as singing his ass off when he needs to)

[brandonx76]

Yeah, if you listen to early bootlegs when he was actually singing choruses, it's a little off sometimes, but I'd rather have that and have it be all live than something that sounds just like a studio album.

The rest of Toto's show absolutely kicks fucking ass, but you can't help but notice the tapes...i was hoping maybe they'd cut down on them now that Greg's in the band, as he's a stronger singer than Dave is, but it's not to be. (Greg live though is something to witness, just from watching you'd never guess that he'd only been in the band for a short time...he's got really great stage presence for keyboard player too, as well as singing his ass off when he needs to)

Greg does some funny high screech "yeeeeeeeooooooooows!!!" I don't know if it's cool or not, but it's definitely entertaining...

Seeing him get the crowd going on "Gipsy Train" is classic...

[JohnH]

Sheesh no wonder those choruses sounded so good Fri night. I could tell some stuff was sequenced (and Greg says it's a secret and wouldn't admit it) but I was so into the show I didn't even notice how perfect those back up choruses were. Damn! Doesn't matter though, because Bobby was totally amazing from start to finish when he wasn't "on tape".

John