Stargazers promises 'Best' show ever

When the folks at Stargazers told us they were taking four winners from our Best of the Springs magazine and featuring them in a special “Best of With the Best of at the Best of” show, we were both flattered and determined to help.

Because we’re so passionate about Best of the Springs, which continues to drive web visitors year ’round, we jumped in to become partners.

I volunteered to emcee, and we dedicated this week’s cover story to the show.

“We take the Best Of pretty seriously,” said John Hooton, whose Stargazers Theatre & Event Center took Gold this year for Best Music Venue.

Stargazers regular Joe Uveges, winner of Best Solo Musician, suggested that Hooton leverage the wins with a special Best Of concert.

“It seemed like a great way to celebrate the community,” Uveges said.

“After about three seconds, I thought, ‘This makes perfect sense!’” Hooton said.

Hooton took the idea and ran with it, contacting the winners for Best Comedy (Stick Horses in Pants, Gold), Best Blues Rock Band (Jake Loggins Band, Expert Pick), and Best Band Performances (6035, Expert Pick).

He also hopes to serve the winners for Best Beer (Laughing Lab, Gold) and Best Ice Cream (Josh & John’s, Gold).

On June 3, Stargazers will host something of a Best Of, The Sequel, concert. It will feature the Best Original Band (Lo-Fi Cowboys, Gold) and Best Cover Band (Tron, Gold).

STICK HORSES IN PANTS

No script. No net. This improv troupe takes a suggestion from the crowd and they’re off.

It could be an every-day activity that can be transformed into an Olympic event. Next thing you know, they’re cleaning toilets in slow-motion, with full-color commentary.

In another bit, they’re playing off the typical CSI crime scene. They ask the audience for a scene for the crime.

“Denny’s!” somebody shouts.

Wearing dark sunglasses, a member of Stick Horses mimes lifting the tarp on a corpse, and says, “Looks like she ordered the Grand Slam.”

And the audience roars with laughter.

These are the moments when everything works out. Sometimes, things go awry. Horribly awry. In one of their bits, or games, the Stick Horses play a variation on charades, where they act out a word that an audience member must guess. In this case, a few minutes into it, the Stick Horse actor accidentally blurted out the word.

And when the audience member whispered, “Did you just tell me what it was?” the actor grabbed his hat and through it down on the floor in frustration.

Again, the audience went nuts.

Even when they royally screw up, the Stick Horses often can get to something funny.

“It’s not like a comedy club kind of audience,” said long-time Stick Horse member Lacey Maynard, who also won Gold honors for Best Actress. “The audience is very forgiving because they know you’re making it up as you go along.”

They’re improv specialty is called short-form. Most bits are just a few minutes. It’s the form made popular in “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

Like that TV show, the Stick Horses try valiantly to keep their bits family-friendly, and most of the time they succeed.

“Sometimes, we’ll do things that are full of innuendo without meaning to,” said member Toby Lorenc.

Or an audience suggestion will lead to obvious double entendres. Still, they struggle to keep it clean, and their efforts have made them a go-to troupe for The Broadmoor, Stargazers, Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts and many private parties.

FRITZ GENATO
of 6035

Fritz isn’t just a singer. He’s like a cross between an impressionist and a spiritual channeler.

When he does Paul Rodgers, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey or Ian Gillan, his voice and inflections take on the characteristics of that singer so well, you’d swear he had that star singing from back stage.

“I can’t explain it, except that I’m blessed with a voice that can adjust — a universal voice or something,” Fritz said.

He grew up in the Philippines, singing in the church choir and in the scouts.

“There was always a lot of singing going on,” he said.

When he grew up, he became of a fan of the harmonies of America and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Then he saw the concert film “The Song Remains the Same” featuring Led Zeppelin.

“Robert Plant’s voice was amazing,” he said. “I didn’t realize somebody could do vocals like that without any backup.”

Fritz continued to develop his voice, and, after moving to Colorado Springs, he quickly became a hot singer on the club circuit, first with the band Common Ground, then for the band 6035 (named after our city’s elevation).

But when he plays Stargazers, it’ll be a rare solo gig, one that will feature his mellower, more-folkie side.

JAKE LOGGINS

The first question most folks asked when Jake Loggins hit Colorado Springs was: “How is that amazing blues sound coming from that skinny little kid?”

Jake, who’s now 27, was 16 when his father, Lobo Loggins, invited him to play with his blues band at Laura Belle’s Lounge. Jake had been just a helper, hauling equipment.

Jake’s dad had brought an extra guitar to the gig that night, but Jake didn’t know why until his dad said, “Come up and do that thing I showed you that one time.’”

“That thing” turned out to be “Hey, Joe,” the ’60s standard popularized by Jimi Hendrix.

Jake remembers that the bass player wasn’t thrilled about letting the kid on stage to play a rock tune. “‘We ain’t playing that! That’s no *&@ing blues!’”

But the blues purist let the kid play. And, despite his parents’ warnings not to follow in their musical footsteps, Jake became a blues man.

His first local band was Jake Loggins and Spare Change, composed of Jake and whichever musicians he could pluck from other local bands for the night, paying spare change.

His current blues rock group — the Jake Loggins Band — has become one of the premier nightclub acts in the Pikes Peak region. But he says his one or two gigs a week is a big slow-down from where he was a couple of years ago.

“The scene is completely different,” he says. “I’m so grateful to have work, but at the same time, it’s kind of depressing.”

JOE UVEGES

I first met Joe about 20 years ago when he was playing with a five-piece folk group in the basement of the now-defunct McKenna’s Pub. Playing beside master finger picker and songwriter Phil Volan, Joe provided big, warm vocals, heart-strumming lyrics and, between songs, a lively banter and open-throated laugh that could be heard on the other side of Academy Boulevard.

In the following decades, I watched Joe’s guitar skills improve and his lyrics become ever-more thoughtful and sophisticated.

His website says: “A grizzled veteran of bar bands, coffeehouses, he should be a burned out skeleton of a man playing Allman Brother covers, tipping lukewarm Coors from a can, and lamenting broken marriages and illegitimate kids.”

But he’s not.

Joe is one of the biggest local names in folk music. Which is, of course, a mixed blessing.

“I honestly feel a modest sense of satisfaction and still a deep yearning for a larger expression,” Joe told me. “Or a larger venue for expression. Maybe that’s a better way to say it. This community has been a fabulously supportive community. And I would like to elevate what I’m doing to a larger plane.”

He’s coy. He wants to be rich and famous and quit his day job. Who doesn’t?

His newest strategy is a partnership with Christian/country artist Stephanie Pauline. As soon as Joe sang with Stephanie, he felt he was onto something new.

“What happened was this was very magical vocal blend, and this kind of multidimensional manner of hearing melody and harmony that was pretty inspiring,” he said.

They’re working on an album, “When the Smoke Clears,” which looks at the troubles and heartbreaks of military men and women. It’s expected to be out late this summer.