ST. GEORGE — A tribute band from Eastern Europe specializing in American classic rock hits is playing a concert at the Desert Hills High School auditorium on Saturday night.
In what can only be described as something that doesn’t happen often in St. George, Leonid & Friends will bring an 11-piece band and some fabulous singers for local lovers of classic rock.
Leonid Vorobyev, director and founder of the group, fell in love with the rock group Chicago when he was a teenager in Soviet Russia during the 1970s.
“It’s the most interesting style of music, as a musician,” Vorobyev told St. George News by phone on Thursday before taking the stage in Gilbert, Arizona. “The complete band with the vocalizing – it’s like fairy tales for me.”
Leonid & Friends is more of a project than a band, functioning under other names with other performers over the years.
Vorobyev has been there through it all and has now brought together a group of professionals hailing from Eastern Europe who speak little English.
And yet their covers of Chicago are so spot on that they’ve achieved remarkable global success on YouTube and other social media.
In Moscow in 2017, former Utah Governor and then United States Ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, sat in on a session with Leonid & Friends.
Apparently a huge lover of Chicago, Huntsman walked up onto the stage after a performance and just started talking about keyboards with the band members.
“We were very hesitant at first. We were not sure he was a good musician or not,” Vorobyev said. “He was an official — an ambassador — we didn’t know what to expect. We had no idea he was such a good musician.”
Huntsman jammed so well with the band that they set up a special concert the next night that featured Huntsman on the keyboards.
A large following of classic rock lovers see Leonid & Friends on tours around the world.
And now he’ll be in St. George on Saturday with his band at Desert Hills High School to perform at 7:30 p.m.
The concert is expected to feature all of their Chicago hits as well as tributes to Earth Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, Blood Sweat and Tears and Chaka Khan.
A highlight of the group is vocalist Ksenia Buzina. A fluent Chinese speaker and a popular singer in China, Ksenia’s tributes to legendary singer Karen Carpenter are transcendent.
“The Leonid and Friends project needed one more singer,” Leonid’s son Roman Vorobyev said. He is MC of the shows and an interpreter for Leonid. “We needed one extra voice for ‘Wishing You Were here.’ Ksenia was the perfect fit. She’s quite a gem for us, something Chicago didn’t have.”
Leonid & Friends are actually on a return trip to St. George after performing in the city on a previous tour.
“Such a fantastic part of the country,” Roman Vorobyev said. “It’s quite special with the landscapes. We thought we were driving through Mars or something with the red rocks around.”
“It’s great fans living there!” Leonid Vorobyev said. “Fans who know good music!”
After their performance in St. George, Leonid & Friends will then head up north to perform at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
Learn more about the band on the group’s webpage, or find ticket information at this link.
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