Steve Lukather at Warsaw Klub Progresja 9-04-13

From many moons ago (1978 to be precise) when I was a 12-year-old schoolboy at St. Gabriel's in Paper Town (Bury), I can remember Toto releasing their debut album, and the single 'Hold The Line':

Besides this, I remember 'Hold The Line always being played at the UMIST and Jillys Rock discos in Manchester in the early 1980s.  Also remember 'Hold The Line' being followed as a single by the Jazz-type 'Georgy Porgy' with lead guitarist Steve Lukather handling the vocals:

At the time, me and my schoolmates slated and derided 'Georgy Porgy', but listening to it now, it really does pass the test of time really well.  However, other than the 1980s hit singles such as 'Africa' and 'Rosanna', I kind of lost touch with Toto early on.

Despite the above, quite recently, I got to listen to the last three Steve Lukather solo albums including the recently released 'Transaction', and like all three of them.  Thus, I was happy to go and see Lukather at Warsaw Klub Progresja last night.  Dead on (or just past) eight, the man himself and his band came on stage with 'Judgement Day', my favourite track from the 'Transaction' album:

Of course, well done to the kind soul who has put this on Youtube. 

Last night, the Klub Progresja was cram packed, and I made the big mistake of moving from a position not far from where the above video was filmed to the hallway at the back to put my coat in the cloakroom.  Thus, not feeling like pushing, fighting or squirming my way back into the overpacked small concert hall, I ended up watching the rest of the gig in the hallway around a crowded doorway, which was far from ideal.

Despite the above, I did come away with a couple of my favourite Lukather tunes: 'Darkness In My World' and first encore 'Flash In The Pan' (not sure if he did any other encores after as I left after this) playing in my mind, so I'd thankfully managed to connect with some of the music despite being stuck in the hallway. 

However, what really 'pissed me off' was that this gig was moved from the much bigger Stodoła to the overpacked Progresja when I think the Stodoła would've been about a third to half full, possibly enough to justify it taking place there, where people would've been in considerably more comfort, having the freedom to move around.  In Warsaw, you have to continually keep track of concerts before they take place, as they can be 'downgraded' to a smaller place at any time if the ticket sales are not as hot as expected.  On one hand, this is a good thing, as people still get to see the band in Warsaw, but on the other hand, like last night, it can make a concert a dreadfully claustrophobic experience, or maybe this is just my 'British-ness'.