Los Lonely Boys shares slice of 'Heaven'
Los Lonely Boys gave a little slice of Heaven to some special fans on Thursday.
The band played a private concert at North Central College's Wentz Concert Hall for underprivileged and special needs families, giving a concert experience to children who may otherwise never experience one.
The performance was a prelude to their evening show at the Naperville Exchange Club's Ribfest. The club gave out 450 tickets for the private performance to area community groups such as NCO Youth and Family Services, Metropolitan Family Council and Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry.
"We work all year long on Ribfest in order to give these guys the funds they need to do the programs they need," said Don Emery with the Exchange Club. "To have the opportunity to bring 400 or 500 of them together to get a free concert ... is easy to do."
Los Lonely Boys, comprised of Garza brothers Henry, Ringo and JoJo - shared their "Texican" hits for just over an hour, strumming songs like "Hollywood," "Staying with Me," "Nobody Else" and their Grammy Award-winner, "Heaven."
In between, they encouraged children in the audience to work hard and follow their dreams.
"It's important for us to do as much as we can to give back, try to give time and hopefully some kind of inspiration to these children and the people that are having these hard times ... or even good times," bass guitarist JoJo said after the show.
Matt Kuecker, 24, who is in the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association's adult day program "Rec and Roll," had been listening to his Los Lonely Boys CD all week and got to the hall an hour early to get a front-row seat. He said he was excited to dance along to the music.
"It's very nice for the Exchange Club to do this for the children with special needs, especially a lot of them in wheelchairs that don't have to deal with the sun or the crowds," said Becky Phillips, whose daughter takes part in the "Rec and Roll" program.
After the show, the brothers stuck around to hand out drumsticks, sign autographs and snap pictures with each of their fans. Ringo even gave two boys an impromptu drum lesson.
Jan Urso of Naperville brought 10-year-old son Jack who is in the Naperville Police Department's Fastrack program that uses electronic technology to help find people with special needs if they go missing.
Urso was impressed by the band's musical talent and its generosity.
"They were just such performers and incredible, their instruments and their singing," she said.
"They just seem like they have hearts of gold and it's so nice of them to see their fans and come to this type of arena."
Ribfest runs through Sunday at Knoch Park, 724 S. West St.