Jim Thorpe is always worth the drive — a destination town tucked into the Poconos with actual things to do before the show. On Saturday, May 9, Penn’s Peak gives you a very good reason to point the car east: Leonid & Friends, the 11-piece Moscow-based ensemble that turned a viral YouTube moment into one of the most talked-about live acts in the tribute world.
The origin story is genuinely good. In late 2014, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Leonid Vorobyev transcribed a Chicago song entirely by ear — no published scores existed — recorded it with fellow musicians, and uploaded the result. It went viral. The band had never seen Chicago perform live; they learned everything from recordings and videos. That single post started something: the group now claims more than 300 million video views, 1.2 million social media followers, and over 400 U.S. performances since their first American tour in 2019. They have since met Chicago founding members Robert Lamm, Danny Seraphine, and Michelle Kath Sinclair.
The May 9 show is part of the “2026 or 6 to 4” tour — a riff on Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4,” if you needed any more evidence that this band commits to the bit. The Spring 2026 East Coast leg runs May 7–31. The Hudson Valley and mid-Atlantic region stop is a natural fit: Penn’s Peak holds 1,800, which is exactly the right scale for an 11-piece horn band — big enough that the room fills with real sound, intimate enough that nothing gets lost in the rafters. The set extends well beyond Chicago into Earth, Wind & Fire; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Stevie Wonder; Steely Dan; and Deep Purple, plus original compositions. Four studio albums in, they have earned the right to call themselves something more than a tribute act.
Doors open at 6:00 PM with showtime at 8:00 — a solid two-hour window to find your seat and settle in. Regular reserved seating is $42.50; premium reserved is $48.50. Buy through the official Penn’s Peak event page and skip the third-party resellers. The band specifically warns against them, and for good reason.
Get Tickets: Leonid & Friends at Penn’s Peak — May 9, 2026