Toto "Dogz of Oz Tour" live in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Toto rides like the wind into Albuquerque Monday night

Can you imagine what it is like to hold a concert at an amphitheater in the middle of the monsoon season in New Mexico? Well, the experience is worth every minute when the bands were Toto, Christopher Cross, and The Romantics. Toto brought the “Dogz of Oz Tour” to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Monday. They blew in with the wind and made thunder rumble in the sky. Despite the rain, wind, and lightning, the show must go on, and the crowd stayed for the whole night as the three bands brought the 1980s to the stage.

Romantics, a Detroit band that formed in 1977, grew out of the pop-rock and garage-rock world that took their influence from the 1960s British Invasion. Wally Palmar, the only original member of the band, still brings the band alive every time he hits the stage. Their self-titled debut album conceived the hit song and first chartmaker, “What I Like About You,” and is still their most popular song to date – No. 49 in the US, No. 8 in the Netherlands, and No. 2 in Australia. They released five albums, and in 1983 they climbed to No. 1 on the Top Dance chart in the United States with the song “Talking in Your Sleep.”

As they entered the stage, the sky was partly cloudy with very little wind, and it was hovering around 99 degrees, which only made the performance feel cinematic. They opened with “Rock You Up,” which was followed by “Do Me Any Way You Wanna,” both off their 1983 album In Heat, and then they followed up with “When I Look in Your Eyes” from the self-titled debut album. As they gave us a tour of their music across the 49 years of performing, they ended their show with the crowd favorites: “Talking in Your Sleep” and “What I Like About You.”

To learn more about this band, follow these links:

https://www.theromanticsdetroit.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090772454586

https://www.instagram.com/romanticsdetroit

Christopher Cross from Texas released his self-titled album in 1980 and blew the music scene apart, winning five Grammy Awards, including — for the first time in Grammy history — the “Big Four” most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single “Sailing”), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also “Sailing”), and Best New Artist. He later went on to bring home an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination, and five Top 10 singles over four decades of music. He continuously produced chart-toppers like “Sailing,” “Ride Like the Wind,” and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).”

Before Cross could perform, the wind picked up, the rain started to fall, and lightning lit the night sky, so there was an hour delay, but that didn’t deter the crowd, and just as his song describes it, he sure did ride like the wind as soon as he hit the stage. He opened his show with “All Right,” followed by “Never Be the Same” and “I Really Don’t Know Anymore,” but what got the crowd on their feet was “Sailing” and loud cheers when he performed “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Be).” But what made the crowd come unhinged was when he closed his show with “Ride Like the Wind.” A pure master of his music, he still has it after all these years.

To enter the world of Christopher Cross, you can follow these links:

https://www.christophercross.com

https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherCrossOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/itsmrcross/?hl=en

Toto hit the scene in 1977 in Los Angeles and never looked back, cutting their teeth in the pop, rock, soul, and funk scene. They made a name for themselves and are now considered one of the creators of what is known as yacht rock. Having released 14 studio albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide, the group has received several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009. They have also had 19 tours in 49 years, and they are showing no signs of slowing down.

As the thunder rumbled in the background, they hit the stage and made us all forget that it had even rained; they performed with such perfection. Bring the crowd to their feet with each song. They opened their show with “Goodbye Elenore” from their 1981 album Turn Back, which was followed by the song that made the crowd sing along, award-winning “Rosanna,” then, if things couldn’t get better, “Georgy Porgy.” The crowd went wild. The hits just kept coming all night. They ended the show with what could be described as an explosion from the crowd with the cult classic song “Africa.” The night was well worth the rain, the wind, and the lightning. It was an honor to capture this show and hear the crowd cheering and talking about their experience of how great the concert was.

If you want to know where Toto’s “Dogz of Oz Tour” will be next, follow these links below.