The Nokia Night of the Proms is a very succesful yearly event in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, "where classic meets pop". Every year a symphonic orchestra is joined by pop and rock artists to give several concerts. During these concerts the orchestra plays well-known classical highlights like "the Wilhelm Tell overture" and is a back-up band for artists like Oleta Adams, Al Jarreau, Roger Hodgson (ex-Supertramp), Joe Cocker, etc.
Toto was the first rock-band to perform at the Night of the Proms in 1994 playing
=> "Africa", => "Rosanna",
=> "I'll Be Over You" and "I Won't Hold You Back."
The concerts were recorded and broadcasted by Veronica (a Dutch tv-station) and BRTN (the Belgian National Tv-station) and later released on a CD, containing "I Won't Hold You Back" and "Rosanna" ("Night of the Proms '94", EVA 8318142).
The Night of the Proms was the first time Toto performed live after ending the "Kingdom of Desire"-tour in 1992. The band played 'the stars outta heaven' and had a great time being onstage, which may have influenced them to continue on as a band, rather than break up after the passing of Jeff Porcaro.
In 2003 Toto was asked for the 2nd time to Headline the Night of the Proms concert series. However, where the 1992 Night of the Proms tour was only about 8 shows in total, the 2003 concert series had expanded to 60 shows in 3 months, having developed ito the most popular concert series in Europe. Toto performed to 4 weeks of sold out shows in the Sportpalais in Antwerpen/Belgium in front of 16.000 people a night.
Shortly after the first shows in October 2003, Simon Phillips became seriously ill. BEcause of the extent of the tour left and because there was very little time to find a replacement, INXS drummer Jon Farriss offered to help TOTO out for the next few shows. Because this was only a temporary solution, the band and management eagerly tried to find a first class drummer from their so called "A-List" of musicians who were able to play the Toto songs in a satisfying way. As
=> Gregg Bissonette unfortunately was busy on a sold out clinic tour, they finally got Ricky Lawson (Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan) to play with them for the next 2 months.
Then, on November 14th, David Paich was forced to leave the Proms to get back to L.A. to take care of his ill sister, and Greg Phillinganes took over the keys. Fortunately, the "Musical Chairs" Lineup of the Night of the Proms ended at that point.
Despite all of the roadblocks, the NOTP-Tour was a huge success and the band performed in front of more than 600.000 people in total. The 2003 Proms was the best selling concert tour in late 2003 worldwide!
Related Pages
David Paich
Greg Phillinganes
Simon Phillips
Night of the Proms Feature
