Sky’s the limit at Silver Moon
Event center offers new stage for rock
Rock ’n’ roll has a new home in Colorado Springs.
The managers of the Silver Moon Event Center, at 117 E. Las Vegas St. in southern downtown, see the place as a baby boomer’s paradise, a haven for classic rock and blues shows.
Even the comedy show scheduled for Saturday is built around classic rock.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” said coowner Charlie Cagiao. “Right now we’ve got almost every weekend booked through May. We’re looking to have a lot of good shows in here.”
Canned Heat, The Kentucky Headhunters, and The Orchestra (with some former members of Electric Light Orchestra) have already played the Silver Moon. In the next few months, Johnny Winter, The Marshall Tucker Band, Mick Taylor and Katey Sagal (Peg Bundy from “Married With Children” fame) will take the stage.
The venue holds 1,000 to 1,350 for shows, with a big stage and lots of parking.
That size fills a good niche in the Colorado Springs music scene, smaller than the World Arena, Pikes Peak Center and City Auditorium, but larger than The Thirsty Parrot or The Black Sheep.
And blues rock isn’t the only thing on the menu. Since the owners are happy to rent out the place, it offers local promoters one more option.
Hip-hop station KIBT (96.1 FM) “The Beat” is putting on Friday Night Hype parties for 14- to 19-year-olds, a metaphysical fair is setting up shop, and the Men of Playgirl paid a visit.
Concert crowds at the Silver Moon are starting to grow as music fans hear about it, and Cagiao sees some familiar faces coming back for every show.
“We’ve been hitting less than half of what we expect, but we know we’re a new venue,” Cagiao said. “We’re actually building a very loyal base of people who come to our shows.”
Owners Cagiao and Hardy Wright are musicians themselves. Wright is in the doowop band The Nostalgics. Cagiao is a drummer who had some rock ’n’ roll moments — including filling in for Van Morrison’s sick drummer for four tour dates — and went on to manage The Platters for several years.
He’s no stranger to the music biz, which is helping him now as he books bands.
He’s also an intrepid entrepreneur, who has run a newspaper for the disabled, a chain of comic book stores, a pizza place, and a milk-and-cheese farm with Nubian goats.
Cagiao brought in Jefferson Starship for a free concert in Old Colorado City in 2006, and “it sparked the old bug.” He found the 18,000-square-foot building on Las Vegas Street vacant and started the dream with $3,500 on a credit card.
Cagiao and Wright have a five-year lease on the property — which has been around for years, serving as a bingo parlor, among other things — and are making improvements to enhance the acoustics and to add things such as a green room, poker room and separate bar.
On the music side, the only hiccup so far is navigating the jungle of naming rights for classic-rock acts that have rotated through a carousel of personnel over the decades.
For instance, the remnants of Electric Light Orchestra can only use the name The Orchestra if they want to avoid lawsuits from Jeff Lynne.
And the Silver Moon dropped their Bad Company show like a hot potato when they discovered that former lead singer Brian Howe (the act they booked) didn’t have rights to the name. Cagiao was the watchdog on the name battle when he worked for The Platters.
“We had people calling themselves ‘original members’ who weren’t born when the band started,” he said.
On the business side, one of the hurdles for the Silver Moon is to draw concertgoers to a depressed neighborhood, better known for its homeless population than its entertainment options. But Cagiao wants to be part of the SoDo revival.
“We knew that could be a problem when we took the building over,” Cagiao said. “But we haven’t had any problems. “And we’re hoping to revitalize the area a little bit. We have a lot of hopes and dreams for this whole area.”
details
Upcoming shows at the Silver Moon Event Center, 117 E. Las Vegas St. Buy tickets at the venue, at Independent Records & Video or Tickets West. For information, call 633-LIVE (5483).
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, with Mick Taylor and The Pretty Things, March 29, $25
Head East, April 12, $25
Bag Lady Sue Comedy Show, April 19, $20
Katey Sagal, May 3, (“Married With Children” star Peg Bundy leads a ninepiece blues band), $30
Jay and the Americans, May 23, $30 David Allan Coe, June 21, $30
