Shem Q&A

[The_Noble_Cause]

Ex TOTO bassist, Shem Van Shroek, encouraged fans to submit questions via social media and answered them recently. Link below. A few revelations of note for TOTO fans...

-Shem said he would hang in the front lounge of the tour bus with Joe, Dave, and Warren. They would discuss arrangers and film composers like Joe's dad. Shem says he doesn't miss the back lounge that much; however, he does go on to speak very highly of Shannon.

-Shem says the headset mic was Paich's idea. Paich encouraged him to be out on the stage and be performative. Once Dave left, Shem said many changes were implemented including taking away his mic.

-Shem says Styx is much more of a genuine band than Toto. Fans see 8 people on stage for Toto, but it's really controlled by one person. Whereas Styx was a collective effort by Gowan, Todd, Tommy, and James.

-Shem claims that David"s health is fine and he is really just happy to be retired from the road.

-Shem says that Shannon was perfect every night and even performed through pain that fans didn't know about, including some back issues.


https://t.co/jezCejymSe?amp=1

[Sundet]

Wow, seems like Toto's last tour wasn't all that fun for all parties involved. Obviously, Toto was not a hippie commune (to quote Don Henley talking about the Eagles' hierarchy) but it appears there was a slight change of dynamic when Paich was unable to stay on the road. Also, the tours appeared to get longer and longer with more legs, and there are several 90's interviews with Paich in which he says that his idea of a tour is a three-week stint to promote a new album. So maybe Shem is right that the constant touring wasn't really to his taste, his health problems notwithstanding.

In a recent interview Simon Phillips also alluded to never having had a problem with Paich but quarrelling a wee bit with Lukather about the business and touring side of things.