Toto @ Le Zénith, Paris

Thirty-five years into their career, Toto finds itself in a familiar position: back on the road, promoting a new album and performing to audiences that have remained remarkably loyal through decades of changing line-ups and shifting musical fashions. The release of XIV, the band's first studio album in nearly a decade, provides the immediate reason for this tour, but the real attraction is the catalogue that has kept Toto on stages around the world for more than three decades.

As always, the personnel has evolved. The current incarnation features returning bassist David Hungate alongside percussionist Lenny Castro, drummer Shannon Forrest, vocalist Joseph Williams, keyboardists David Paich and Steve Porcaro, and guitarist Steve Lukather, the band's enduring focal point. Despite the various changes, the collective identity remains unmistakable.

What immediately strikes the audience is the sheer level of musicianship on display. Toto has long been associated with technical excellence, and this performance offers ample evidence as to why. Every arrangement is executed with extraordinary precision, while the band's famously intricate vocal harmonies sound almost impossibly accurate in a live setting.

Lukather, despite appearing visibly under the weather, remains a commanding presence throughout the evening. Whatever physical discomfort he may be experiencing never seems to affect his playing. His solos are fluid, expressive and technically dazzling without ever becoming self-indulgent, a reminder that he remains one of rock's most accomplished guitarists.

The setlist balances old and new material sensibly. Several selections from XIV demonstrate that the band still has creative ambitions beyond nostalgia, while the bulk of the evening draws from the classic records that established Toto's reputation. Songs such as "Hold the Line," "Rosanna," "Pamela," "White Sister," "I'll Supply the Love" and "I Won't Hold You Back" are greeted enthusiastically by an audience that has clearly lived with this music for decades.

Nobody comes to a Toto concert expecting danger or unpredictability. That has never been the band's appeal. What they offer instead is something increasingly rare: sophisticated songwriting, elite musicianship and a level of professionalism that borders on the immaculate. For those who value craftsmanship as highly as attitude, the Zénith was exactly where they needed to be.