In a Mother’s Day whirlwind weekend extravaganza, I took my wife to see Chicago at the legendary Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on Friday, then the following night we went to Patchogue to catch what may be the world’s premier Chicago tribute band, by way of Russia, Leonid & Friends.
Chicago was back in action after a brief hiatus during which they have replaced three touring members. The core of the group is starting to look more grey and a little ragged, particularly standing next to the new “youngsters” at keyboard, guitar and bass, but they give their fans what they want, hit after familiar hit. The band, that seemingly never takes a day off, Chicago is touring through the summer and beyond, this time playing the sheds with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys opening. I do not know how the founding members will survive the daunting schedule that lay in front of them in 2022, but Chicago has always seemed to find a way to rock on.
We had never seen Leonid & Friends before this past Saturday night and my balcony seats at the Patchogue Centre for Performing Arts was worth every penny of the $40 bucks per ticket I paid. After a speech about the Ukrainian invasion and how music can bring us all together, the band pretty much followed Chicago’s successful performance formula to a tee, mixing those familiar Chicago tunes with Blood, Sweat snd Tears “ Vehicle”, Earth, Wind & Fire, and a few other songs to break up the Chicago tribute nicely. I think I counted eleven in the band total; brass section with the saxophone player providing entertainment snd reprising the Jimmy Pankow vibe, guitar, drums, keyboard, four different vocalists including a female and a young gypsy fellow singing the Peter Cetera parts (and yes, according to the emcee, a real gypsy). Leonid plays bass snd oversees the festivities. After introducing the band, Leonid introduced the road manager and a few others which made me wonder how they made any money at all on tour. Like Chicago, Leonid has been plugging in replacement players with one member in Kiev and unable to travel, a trombone player on paternity leave, and the Gypsy fellow stepping in as Cetera. Other than missing the Kentucky Derby (a story I would rather not get into) Leonid & Friends delivered an excellent and, reasonably priced, night of entertainment. I have never been a proponent of seeing tribute bands since I have attended do many original shows and act through the years, but musically Leonid & Friends was spot on, particularly on the Chicago arrangements, and once you got passed the Russian accents on some songs, they were nearly as good as the originals.
Make Me Smile
Rock on!
GQ