Sirk TV Concert Review: LEONID & FRIENDS [The Parker - Fort Lauderdale]
The tricky thing with any cover touring band is to find a way to create that texture of what the original sounded like. The interesting aspect of Leonid & Friends which made a tour stop at the newly renovated The Parker (formerly Parker Playhouse) in Fort Lauderdale is how good they sound live, especially with the sometimes unreal You Tube videos they are able to produce. Granted since the pandemic some members have departed, the most noticable being Sergey Neharin whose guitar licks and vocals really balanced in a way the strengths of other members. In the new line up there is a pure guitarist in Constantine as well as an almost Tom Jones texture in the new addition Danil. The mainstays that are just as key as breathing in Serge and Nahrina are still powerful forces. Live Nahrina actually though is a little lower in the mix than would be expected especially in the Earth, Wind & Fire covers, (mostly noticeably) their brand new cover arrangement of "After The Love Is Gone".
Serge whose range is as good if not surpasses Bobby Kimball of Toto in his prime, simply has a voice that is riveting just for its range. 80s Chicago tunes really push the instrumental forte here (as it did on You Tube) with "You're The Inspiration" and "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" really blending the hard guitars and brass. Igor, the ever present and visceral drummer, got his own little time of his own at the end and really seems moved to be back performing in America. Certain songs because of their melody just feel beautiful in person. "I've Been Searching So Long" feels almost more soulful. "Street Player" has a more disco feel but to the crowd, which definitely skewed older, there was a sense of relief in hearing this music so rich back in the 70s and 80s feeling new again in person (by musicians who for the most part are young) yet really seem to enjoy playing the songs.
Of course the brain trust is Leonid Vorobyev (who also plays the bass) who figures out all the arrangements to make this happen (which is small feat). While many in the Russian and the American community in Fort Lauderdale showed their support, the band brought out a bongo player who played on Chicago VII as well as with John Lennon and Ringo Starr later in the set. It gave the later half of the nearly 2 1/2 performance (with a 10-15 minute intermission) even more energy because it played to its South Florida roots. Danil, as the newest performer, did shows he has the chops and his enunciation in the songs is even better than the "After The Love Has Gone" video that premiered a month ago.
One has to remember that this is their 2nd language per se so that factors in but "Leonid & Friends" shows that they can hang with the best of the bands. Many of us never got to hear these bands like the original Chicago or Earth Wind & Fire so this is a rare opportunity to see it done right with killer singers and exceptional instrumentation. It will be interesting to see them tackle other artists and Chicago songs ("Hard Habit To Break" would be a good one) while staying inside this still uplifting 70s/80s Rock that had a sense of style. If the crowd at Parker (despite their age) was any indication, they are definitely doing it right.
By Tim Wassberg
