Constant As The Night

As I sat in the darkened Park West Theater last night, the anticipation of seeing Lowen & Navarro live once again was incredible. Two years had gone by since we saw them last, and that was not for lack of trying- the first year my husband was in Hong Kong and I spaced on when they were coming to Chicago and the second time tickets sold out before we could get them.

For Christmas, my husband bought 3 tickets to go see them, an extra one as a birthday present for my friend, Kristen, and I couldn't have been more excited. Lowen & Navarro have been a running theme in our relationship, from the breath-taking, heart-pounding first days of dating to the comfortable meanderings we call vacations to the birth of our son to now. They have been, to use a song title, as Constant As The Night in our lives. The music that L&N writes is the kind that gets you right in the gut, pulls on your heartstrings, makes your eyes well up with tears. Their music is real, their music is enveloping, their music is life. You cannot listen to these two guys harmonize without being changed forever. It's powerful stuff.

One year, several years ago now, my husband and I planned a trip to California. We were going to drive up the coast in a rented convertible on Hwy 1 and just see California from bottom to top. We had a perfectly laid out plan of when we would drive where so that our trip just lazily led us up the coast. But then we found out that L&N would be playing in San Diego while we were in CA, and the whole roadmap got shot to hell. We ended up looping and back-tracking so we would end up in San Diego just hours before they were to play. And it was worth every extra mile.

For those of you who have no idea who Lowen & Navarro are, I pity you. You are truly missing out. Their music is played on 93XRT here in Chicago- songs like Walking On A Wire, Pendulum, Just To See You and Scratch At The Door. You may know their song, covered by Pat Benetar, called We Belong. Their music is folksy but gutsy, full of regret, promise, angst and tears, yet ever hopeful. It is full of all things that music should be, and they are those rare performers whose cd recordings don't even do their live performances justice. You just cannot believe the harmony between these guys until you hear it for yourself.

Last night, as the lights went out and the crowd roared to its feet, Eric Lowen made his way onto the stage via a motorized wheelchair. Having the two year lapse since seeing him last, the image was shocking and all too real. Eric was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), more commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease" in 2004. He can no longer get around by himself and has an assistant to tune his guitar, bring him his water, or simply adjust him in his chair. My eyes welled up watching his assistant shift his legs for him, my heart truly broken for the gift that this world will not have for much longer- the gift of the harmonies of Lowen & Navarro.

As Eric explained, ALS will soon rob him of his ability to "make his guitar speak" and, soon thereafter, his voice. The thought saddened me, and I would be lying if I told you that the thought didn't cross my mind that it should have been Eminem instead. But the minute the band came to life and Eric began strumming his mandolin, all sadness disappeared. Eric was not going to go out quietly, he was going to go out playing and singing until he couldn't play or sing anymore. And damn, can that man sing.

The show was awe-inspiring and a million thumbs up. Dan Navarro, the equally talented and amazing counter-part to Eric Lowen, quite frankly, rocked. His good humor, his efforts to fill the minutes while Eric was adjusted for the next song, his gravitation towards Eric at certain songs did not go unnoticed. Dan is not only a first class musician, but today I have more respect for him than ever for not bailing when Eric needed him most.

I'm sure last night is the last time we will ever see Lowen & Navarro live in Chicago. I wish I could hope otherwise, but I dare not. It almost feels like a chapter is ending, not only in their careers, but in our lives. I hope, when Eric can no longer tour, that they record and record and record until he can no longer sing. That will be the greatest gift that they can give to the world.

Rock on, guys. You should have been way more famous than you are.