The Crash Kings and David Cook
Last night Groves and I went to see David Cook at the Fillmore. The Crash Kings were the opening number. All in all, it was an excellent show! Seeing anything at the Fillmore is just great because the atmosphere is incredibly intimiate.
The Crash Kings were made up of Tony as the lead singer (and keyboards), Jason on Drums, and Mike on Bass Guitar. Groves thought Tony was cute (and he was in the emo style). He had a really great voice that sounded to me very much in the classic rock vein modernized with emo. In fact, that's how I'd describe the band's sound. Emo Classic Rock with a slight edge. Jason the drummer looked like a cousin of Eddie Mercury. The 40 something guy who never gave up on his dream of the band, and now he's living the dream. I have to say though, he pounded those drums with amazing force and energy, fast and unyielding. In the few moments those sticks weren't flying those bass drums were pounding. The last time I heard drums like that were XTC's Terry Chambers. He was good! Mike on the Bass was pretty active and sweating a lot. When I went to the bathroom I could hear the amp on the other side of the stage so the bass line came out more. But what I loved is that he would turn out his thigh while playing. Very sexy. You know that shot of the thigh... it's when you part someone's knees and get down in there.
The Crash Kings opened with a cover of Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Karn Evil 9 First Impression.... that "come and see the show." Groves and I were sitting outside and thought it was a recording. (We didn't realize there were two artists. I had said, "Wow - it sounds remarkably live." We were pleasantly surprised. All in all, their set was a lot of fun. There was one moment where a hot guitarist came out to play with them... the song was pretty energetic consisting of: Lead vocals, Drums, Guitar, and Bass. All I could think of was: Wow - they're playing Rockband!
There was a break before David Cook came out and when he did there was so much cheering for him! The amazing thing is that he sounds exactly the same live as he does on the album. I'd swear it was lip syncing if it was exactly like the album. But it vamped until ready, had different runs, and well, you can't fake certain things. As the shouting died down once, some guy shouted something at David Cook. He started a number and then said something like, "Hang on. We've been touring on the road for a while and I've never heard a guy's voice come through like that. Thank you, that's sweet."
The Fillmore is such an initimate venue. I don't think he was prepared for it. But it was clear he was having the time of his life. Cheering erupted for every little thing. At one point he just walked to one side of the stage and that side roared in cheering. Then he walked to the middle. Then the other side. He came back to the middle and said, "It's hard to do that without talking." I think he was just enjoying the sheer energy he was getting. The oddest moment was getting a pillow case thrown at him with an image of himself on it. He mentioned that the gift was nice, but it would be odd to sleep on his own face. He gave it to the guitarist who he said would appreciate it more. (ooh, and if that guitarist is gay... that would be hawt!) David Cook said he didn't want to think about people drooling on him in his sleep.
David let the crowd sing some.. it almost felt like testing us to see if we knew the words. But there I was, singing along without stopping (except maybe an octive lower for Come Back to Me). And having the time of my life. (which he didn't sing, but I kinda was hoping he would. But I can completely understand not wanting to push the American Idol thing.)
Besides the songs from the Album, he did a cover of "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" by the Cutting Crew. It was very rock and edgy, bordering on a punk sound. He also threw in two verses of Hotel California with his harder rock style instead of it being poppy during one of his songs. Just amazing. I wanted to hear him cover the whole song.
All in all, I hope David Cook has a really long career. I adore his spin on music, his voice is just amazing, and his ability to emote is the mark of a true performer. Given the crowd, I think there's potential for a lot of sales. It was predominantly women and boyfriends. But the ages of women looked as low as 10 and as old as 60. The cougars were out for their prey!
And hurrah for the Fillmore for being a really cool venue. And for the apples.
The Crash Kings were made up of Tony as the lead singer (and keyboards), Jason on Drums, and Mike on Bass Guitar. Groves thought Tony was cute (and he was in the emo style). He had a really great voice that sounded to me very much in the classic rock vein modernized with emo. In fact, that's how I'd describe the band's sound. Emo Classic Rock with a slight edge. Jason the drummer looked like a cousin of Eddie Mercury. The 40 something guy who never gave up on his dream of the band, and now he's living the dream. I have to say though, he pounded those drums with amazing force and energy, fast and unyielding. In the few moments those sticks weren't flying those bass drums were pounding. The last time I heard drums like that were XTC's Terry Chambers. He was good! Mike on the Bass was pretty active and sweating a lot. When I went to the bathroom I could hear the amp on the other side of the stage so the bass line came out more. But what I loved is that he would turn out his thigh while playing. Very sexy. You know that shot of the thigh... it's when you part someone's knees and get down in there.
The Crash Kings opened with a cover of Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Karn Evil 9 First Impression.... that "come and see the show." Groves and I were sitting outside and thought it was a recording. (We didn't realize there were two artists. I had said, "Wow - it sounds remarkably live." We were pleasantly surprised. All in all, their set was a lot of fun. There was one moment where a hot guitarist came out to play with them... the song was pretty energetic consisting of: Lead vocals, Drums, Guitar, and Bass. All I could think of was: Wow - they're playing Rockband!
There was a break before David Cook came out and when he did there was so much cheering for him! The amazing thing is that he sounds exactly the same live as he does on the album. I'd swear it was lip syncing if it was exactly like the album. But it vamped until ready, had different runs, and well, you can't fake certain things. As the shouting died down once, some guy shouted something at David Cook. He started a number and then said something like, "Hang on. We've been touring on the road for a while and I've never heard a guy's voice come through like that. Thank you, that's sweet."
The Fillmore is such an initimate venue. I don't think he was prepared for it. But it was clear he was having the time of his life. Cheering erupted for every little thing. At one point he just walked to one side of the stage and that side roared in cheering. Then he walked to the middle. Then the other side. He came back to the middle and said, "It's hard to do that without talking." I think he was just enjoying the sheer energy he was getting. The oddest moment was getting a pillow case thrown at him with an image of himself on it. He mentioned that the gift was nice, but it would be odd to sleep on his own face. He gave it to the guitarist who he said would appreciate it more. (ooh, and if that guitarist is gay... that would be hawt!) David Cook said he didn't want to think about people drooling on him in his sleep.
David let the crowd sing some.. it almost felt like testing us to see if we knew the words. But there I was, singing along without stopping (except maybe an octive lower for Come Back to Me). And having the time of my life. (which he didn't sing, but I kinda was hoping he would. But I can completely understand not wanting to push the American Idol thing.)
Besides the songs from the Album, he did a cover of "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" by the Cutting Crew. It was very rock and edgy, bordering on a punk sound. He also threw in two verses of Hotel California with his harder rock style instead of it being poppy during one of his songs. Just amazing. I wanted to hear him cover the whole song.
All in all, I hope David Cook has a really long career. I adore his spin on music, his voice is just amazing, and his ability to emote is the mark of a true performer. Given the crowd, I think there's potential for a lot of sales. It was predominantly women and boyfriends. But the ages of women looked as low as 10 and as old as 60. The cougars were out for their prey!
And hurrah for the Fillmore for being a really cool venue. And for the apples.