The Toll

Bio:

BREAKING NEWS: THE TOLL PLAYED THEIR FIRST SHOW IN 18 YEARS AT THE LC IN COLUMBUS, OHIO ON WED NOV 24TH 2010. WHAT'S NEXT?!?! MORE LIVE GIGS? A NEW ALBUM? A TOUR? (THIS SITE ACTUALLY AND FINALLY WORKED!!! THANX FOR SENDING COMMENTS AND GETTING THEM BACK TOGETHER...KEEP IT UP!!) *R.I.P. ANDYMAN...

BELOW ARE SOME VIDS OF THEIR LIVE GIG AT THE LC...







The Toll - "Jonathan Toledo" (music video)



The Toll - "MTV Interview"



The Toll - "Jazz Clone Clown" (music video)



The Toll - "one Last Wish" Live



The Toll "Word of Honor" Live



The Toll - "Stuck in the Middle" Live



The Toll - "Jonathan Toledo" Live



The Toll - "American Mess" Live



Thanks for checking out this page, profile, and fan site on and for "The Best Live Band Ever: The Toll." If you had seen them at the "Ghetto" on High Street, or at The Decade in Pittsburgh, or at CBGB's, or at Club Lingerie in LA, or at the 100 Club in London, or at Cedars in Youngstown, or at Ruby Tuesdays, or at Peabody's Down Under in the Cleveland Flats, or on top of the High Street store roof top, or at their first local show opening at the Newport Music Hall, at their first national opener for Eddie Money, at The Avenue (the week before it burned down), etc...then you KNOW what I am talking about. The Toll had it all. Power, Passion, Conviction, Music, Meaning, and THE LIVE SHOW.

Where did you see them live at? Post a comment, will you?

Whatever happened to rock and roll? How is it possible that this band did not become the biggest band in the world? Was it their egos? Was it the record company's fault? Michael Rosenblatts? Why didin't Geffen have them play "live" on Letterman and during a narrative have Brad release his frustration and anger enough to have the TV station freak out and pull them off the air (ala Sex Pistols and Doors)? That would surely have woken up a dead America and allowed them to get known, or was it simply disastrous releasing a ten minute song - OR - not? NOT releasing "Stand In Winter" first? And after seeing the videos above, shouldn't the record company have known that releasing first a powerful "live" EP before the studio debut might have garnered excitement for their live show and so on? It WAS all about the live show it all honestly, the studio album couldn't come close to the real live deal in my opinion. Or was it the untimely and unfavorable (for bands like The Toll) shift in the music industry to Guns'N Roses and Hair Metal style music upon the release of their debut - AND then the untimely shift to Nirvana and Grunge style music upon the release of their second album (which tried to reach out to the GNR/The Cult/hard rock fans --- oops!)? Brad picking up the guitar too much live on stage and taking away that freedom to let loose? Too many burned bridges within the industry? Promises not kept and honored? Guilt? Trading in their cargo truck "Faith" for a fancy, way too expensive Tour Bus? Not playing enough support dates with established national acts to get more exposure? Burned bridges (did we already mention that?!) Too much money and attention too fast (3.6 Million dollars!!!)? ... OR was it the fact that everyone envied them (as far as bands were concerned), and that no one wanted such a powerful band to take away their steam? This is my personal guess. Yet, it is still a mystery that I can not figure out!

And simply stated, Brad Circone was also the best frontman that ever lived. When his eyes caught yours, whether he had just jumped onto your table and knocked over all your beer in your face (and your girlfriends), or from afar (a safe distance!), you were mesmerized and also totally frightened to stare back into his eyes. "Don't look back at him!" your weak mind would say! You were frightened and couldn't move when his eyes were on yours. There was such a deep connection going on with him and his audience for sure. And the rest of the band was there to back him up so to speak. Wow! As amazing as Jim Morrison was, Brad was taking it way further, and i mean WAY further than The Lizard King! Never before has their been such power and brute force grace on stage!

Will there ever be again? Who will step up please, if you would? There has to be another band someday that will be able to atleast come close. Right? I mean, so many bands learned from experiencing The Toll live. Don't they get it too? Will you (band) please step up and show yourself?! I need rock and roll!! I need The Toll!!!

So, a big thank you to the band and especially Greg for allowing me to have this page up. Please check out the "band website" link above to your left for a great site on "The Best Live Band Ever: The Toll."

So, do you have a copy of the limited edition tape recorded at Musicol Studios that was produced by the Psychedelic Furs bassist Tim Butler (my fav recording of theirs!) before the band got signed with Geffen, with the orginal version of "Jazz Clone Clown" and "In A Soldier's Room"? If so, please email an mp3 of it to me so I can upload it here - email to get my personal email address. I have tried to upload "Living in the Valley of Pain", but unfortunately the song file maybe is too large for myspace. Send any pics you have too or posters.

At some point I will go looking in all of my boxes for a video of a live show that was hand held filmed at The Decade in Pittsburgh where Brad is climbing atop Rick's back and the audience is going crazy for the band. I think it even has the owner of the bar saying how much he loves the band and that they are his "sons", and that The Toll will be the biggest band in the world someday. The whole concert video is possibly around two hours. Anyone have the music video for "Jonathan Toledo" that was released by Geffen? If so, can you post it or send it to me to upload it here?

All contents of this site are courtesy of and owned by The Toll. Do you think they will re-group and play some shows again? Maybe a reunion show at the Newport at the very least? Maybe reading this page will get them inspired to talk; and jam. What are they up to now? Working at a financially successful PR firm? Driving a 4x4? Trout fishing? Litigating? Watching reality TV shows? Is this bringing them fulfillment? Is it?! How can they give up on their music? And their devoted fans? They had it all! Many questions need to be answered by themselves, because the rock world really needs them now!! And I mean now!

Here's a scenario I feel could happen: Michael Rosenblatt (A&R @ Geffen at the time who signed them) will be bored at the state of rock and roll and will check out myspace for The Toll out of curiosity. He will see and read this page. (about time Michael!!) He will call Brad (after his meeting is over ofcourse). Brad will think about it for a long time. Brad will listen to the old albums he has not heard for a long time. He will go alone to his favorite sports bar and think even more. A light of inspiration will go off in his head as it has done so many times before (and aided him well). He will listen to his gut feelings and pains that will arise once again. He'll put down the Wall Street Journal and pick up Herman Hesse's Siddhartha again. He'll read it again. He will think, wait, fast, and then finally act. Brad will call the band. And Brad will call Milton (the best and most faithful roadie that ever lived) back into action (he is a soldier in The Toll Army Reserves, and you know and it is "release the war" time!). A show happens at the Newport in Columbus (they all live in Columbus, so c'mon boyz!!). Scott Steinecker is thrilled, and like Michael Rosenblatt (who will be "in" the crowd this time), the Columbus audience comes out of the woodwork and the show is a HUGE success. The audience goes nutso. Michael goes back to Geffen (by phone only) and says, "Yo, Davie, let me buy back The Toll catalog. Give 'em to me NOW!" He gets another label to re-release it after it is re-mixed, re-packaged, and a few new songs (yes, there are many songs unreleased and Brad has written many more songs since then) are added. ... and the band played on...the world is listening...and feeling alive again...The Toll become the biggest band in the world...and then maybe not...what do you think?

Go Cowtown: Does anyone remember this first wave of Columbus, Ohio bands? The Toll, Ronald Koal & The Trillionaires, Scrawl, Eurogression, Great Plains, Oswald & The Herringbones, Screaming Urge, Royal Crescent Mob, Beetkeepers, Martyr Colony, The Suedeheads, Mugwumps, Unaccounted 4, Big Red Sun, Club 99, Dark Arts, Elliot & Big Lie, Willie Phoenix & The Shadowlords, The Burners, (any others I should know about/remember?)?
...and then the second wave: Gaunt, New Bomb Turks, Greenhorn, Train Meets Truck, Feversmile, Big Back Forty (I know), Watershed, Barbed Wire Dolls, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apts, The Bounty, The Wanted, Pica Huss, Paisley Reign, The Uninvited, The Waiting, Harvest Trade, Lilly Bandits, Dead Flower Bloom, V3, Smashing Lads, Poets of Heresy, Gun Shy Ministers, Monster Truck Five, Voices in Winter, Girlie Machine, Howlin' Maggie, Our Flesh Party, Haynes Boys, (any others I should know/remember?), etc...Long Live Columbus Rock & Roll!

A true fan. (No, I am NOT in the band whatsoever)... Geffen Bio and more on The Toll at the "band website" link.

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I made my myspace layout using Pimp-My-Profile.com

Member Since:

January 28, 2006

Members:

Brad Circone: vocals
Rick Silk: guitar
Greg Bartram: bass
Brett Mayo: drums

Sounds Like:

Magazine (UK)
Transcribed by Alan Shaw
(Published on the Page of Progression with the permission of the author)

The Toll

The 100 Club, London

13 March 1989

Verdict: Remarkable...frustrating

'Good Morning, the circus is coming to town today/Line the streets and don't be late'

- Jazz Clone Clown

I was looking at Brad Circone's eyes. You can tell a lot from people's eyes. Some look depressed, dull, enveloped in mediocrity. In Circone's case, they're not so much windows into his soul as opaque enigmas. They only allow you to glimpse patches of the rage, unpredictability and sheer frustration the man must be feeling. The Toll, you see, are victims of their own circumstances. Whenever you try and interpret your own thoughts and ideas into something tangible others can relate to (be it on paper, on canvas or onstage) then inadequacies will always arise. The more depth and electricity there is to the idea, the greater that feeling of frustration.

Circone (vocalist/guitarist/pianist with The Toll) is a remarkable man. Someone for whom the art of communication is perhaps the most frustrating thing of all. He wants people to listen to his tales of pain, dishonour and betrayal through the likes of 'Jonathan Toledo', 'Word of Honor', 'Living In The Valley Of Pain' and 'Anna-41-Box'. But they only stand and stare, waiting for him to do something manic, something outrageous, something off-the-wall. Einstein came to lecture, but all they wanted were the jugglers!

Maybe I'm being rather too cynical. However, when I see a performer as unique and magnetic as Circone reduced to climbing on tables and amps simply to get attention, then I feel saddened. To me, it was the look in his eye, the threat in his voice and the imposition of his personality that mattered tonight. That made me feel at the end of the evening that The Toll are ..." --- more at the band's website (click web link above)

Record Label:

geffen