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Fans will sail into the past with Pablo Cruise at the Egyptian Theatre

Band will play three nights in Park City

Pablo Cruise will take fans on hit-parade voyage when it plays three nights at the Egyptian Theatre.
(Courtesy of Pablo Cruise)

When pop-rock band Pablo Cruise performs three nights at the Egyptian Theatre starting Oct. 12, fans will hear all the hits including “Whatcha Gonna Do?,” “Love Will Find a Way,” “I Want You Tonight,” “Cool Love” and “Place in the Sun.”

After seeing the band live today, many people would be surprised that the band started an extended hiatus in the mid 1980s.

“We took a long time off and went different directions,” keyboardist Cory Lerios said during a Park Record interview. “We had split up and had successful careers aside from Pablo Cruise.”

Lerios had settled down as a film and TV score composer. Jenkins continued as a studio musician and Price entered the corporate world and founded LearnPort Inc., which provides E-Learning programs in California.

The core members got back together after Price asked Jenkins and Lerios to play at his wedding in 2005.

“We got a couple of other guys to fill things out and played,” Lerios said. “Steve also played a few songs, and it was a lot of fun.”

That led to a reunion of sorts.

“I was personally in a good position to break away from the work I was doing to do some live shows,” Lerios said. “And everyone decided to pull some dates and go out on the road.”

During his time composing musical scores, Lerios had forgotten how much Pablo Cruise fans loved the band.

“I distanced myself, albeit unintentionally, from the Pablo Cruise repertoire, and I sort of forgot what the music meant to people,” he said. “So, when we did get back together, I realized that these people who bought the tickets to see us were the ones who also bought the records, ‘Place in the Sun,’ ‘Worlds Away’ and ‘Out of Our Hands’ and the other albums we made back in the day. Pablo Cruise was a big part of these people’s high-school and college days, which is a formative time in their lives.”

The experience only solidified what Lerios knows about the power of music.

“When you hear a song you like, it takes you back to a time when you first heard it,” he said. “It brings back memories that can be heartwarming and great. That’s the beauty of music.”

This is why Lerios and the band takes care to play the songs as close to the recordings the band laid down in the 1970s.

“I’ve gone to shows where my memory of a band isn’t what I’m hearing from the stage,” he said with a laugh. “So, when we play, we have to make sure we don’t go off on musical tangents.”

Lerios said having three of the original four members — Lerios, guitarist and vocalist David Jenkins and drummer Stephen Price — in the band makes that a little easier.

“This is unique in that many older bands don’t have many of the original guys,” Lerios said.

Another way to maintain musical accuracy is to play the songs as many times as possible, which has happened in the past year.

“We’ve had a successful summer and have been playing the songs consistently, so we’re in good shape to do them right,” Lerios said.

Pablo Cruise ruled the radio airwaves in the 1970s.

The pop-rock band from San Francisco released eight albums during the decade, and landed five singles in the Top 40.

Lerios promised fans will enjoy the Park City concerts.

“The shows are kind of career retrospectives in that we’re playing all of the popular stuff and key cuts from the albums,” he said. “Since we’re a players band, there is a lot of musical virtuoso so we stretch out a bit. So we’ll also throw in some other stuff that seem to work for us.”

The concerts will feature a couple of new guys — guitarist Larry Antonino and percussionist and vocalist Robbie Wyckoff.

“Robbie, who has been with us since January, is an incredible singer and does the songs justice,” Lerios said. “Larry also is a great singer and really adds to the band. Although Dave and I wrote the songs, it’s fun for others to sing them as long as they do them right.”

With the new blood, Pablo Cruise is firing on all cylinders.

“The camaraderie in the band is great, and we all have a lot of respect for each other, not only as people, but as musicians,” Lerios said. “I think the people who come see the Park City shows will be really happy. We’re looking forward to Park City because nice to set up and stay in a venue for two or three days.”

Pablo Cruise will perform three nights at 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 12-14, at the Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St. Thursday tickets range from $35 to $55. Friday and Saturday tickets range from $39 to $65. Tickets can be purchased by visiting this website.


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