Take another moment, one or two, just to get over you
So I got home at like 3:00 this morning (after a lovely evening! <333) and then had to get up at 7 to go to work, and I am not quite firing on all cylinders, so this may not be particularly coherent, but I will do my best. Because DAVID COOK WAS HERE. WITH HIS BAND. ABOUT WHOM I KNEW BASICALLY NOTHING THE LAST TIME I SAW THEM TWO YEARS AGO. UNLIKE NOW WHEN I'M KIND OF CRAZY OVERINVESTED IN THEM. So it was pretty great?
Before I get into this, a few people have asked me for a link to Dave's cover of NIN's "The Hand That Feeds." Unfortunately, the sound at the Showbox SoDo is the devil and it is near-impossible to get decent videos from shows there, but here is a pretty good one. Alternately, there's this one from a recent show in St. Louis, which has better sound. And if you want one that has blurry underwater sound but really prime bedroom eyes, there's always this one. HEE. So TAKE YOUR PICK. (Also SUPER CUTE BANTER from the Seattle show. If that is your thing!) (And SUPER CUTE BANTER from St. Louis too. LOOK, BLAME THE YOUTUBE VORTEX, IT'S NOT MY FAULT.)
ALSO I have been wanting to link to this really really REALLY beautiful piano-only cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" that Dave did at the Tulsa soundcheck. I guess he doesn't feel like it's show-ready yet, but man, it made me cry, so I can't wait till he breaks this out for real. The arrangement is gorgeous, and he's accompanying himself (♥_♥) and his voice is just so fucking beautiful and I love him I love him I LOVE HIM.
But anyway. SHOW. HERE. IT HAPPENED. Pics and video compiled here, thanks to spikedluv!
Soundcheck: Come Back To Me, Fade Into Me
Circadian
Heroes
Mr. Sensitive
Paper Heart
4 Letter Word
Come Back To Me
Right Here, With You
Let Me Fall for You
The Last Goodbye
We Believe
The Hand That Feeds (Nine Inch Nails cover)
Bar-ba-sol
Light On
Fade Into Me
It's funny, because the things I had really figured I was paying for with the VIP pass were the soundcheck and the early entry (and the pick tin), and I figured the actual M&G part was just going to be weird and awkward and whatever. Actually, as it turned out, the part of the soundcheck that we got to hear was only two songs, and it was a little awkward-like, I feel uncomfortable staring adoringly at someone while I'm standing basically right in front of them with all the house lights up, you know? Also I felt GUILTY, because the soundcheck essentially became an extra performance for them, once you put paying customers in front of them (so they had already checked all their levels and whatnot anyway), so I felt like we were making them do extra work instead of just letting them do what they needed to do. Apparently what I really want is to be a FLY ON THE WALL for their actual soundcheck. Hee. AND I felt extra-guilty because between songs Dave was tuning and he was like, "Talk amongst yourselves," and when he was just talking, his voice was all scratchy and raspy and so he's CLEARLY still kind of sick and awwww. I'M SORRY YOU HAD TO SING EXTRA WHEN YOU WERE SICK, DAVE. :( So yeah. Soundcheck. Kind of weird? I mean, awesome because they are awesome, and it actually turned out to be the best I could hear Dave all night (because the sound in that venue suuuuuucks), so I'm glad for that, but. Also a bit weird.
After that they had us all line up for the picture portion of things, and zabira and I were about two-thirds of the way back in the line so we had a fair amount of time to plan what we wanted to say (and get nervous). Also we had a lot of time to enjoy the scenery, which included Andy P. Skib doing some really, REALLY excellent leaning against the wall. Hnngh. (We also had time to witness some kind of dick moves, like the one lady who asked the WHOLE REST OF THE BAND to move out of the picture so she could get one with just her and Dave, and also someone who asked Andy and Monty to switch places so that she could stand between Andy and Dave. And, like, I sort of get that this is your one shot and you want to have your body touching El Skib's body, but also? Kind of a dick move, IMO. Also Andy and Monty SWITCHED BACK afterward, which was kind of hilarious-clearly they have a SET ORDER for this lineup and they were sticking to it, dammit.) (Also this feels like a good time to state my opinion that, his overall extreme hotness aside, Dave's hair is NOT GOOD right now. Whatever stylist did that to him should be fired immediately, because his hair looked AWESOME during all the album promo stuff, so clearly it's POSSIBLE, and therefore SOMEONE is denying us the FULL FLOWER OF DAVID COOK'S ATTRACTIVENESS and I DON'T ASK FOR MUCH out of life, okay, but THAT IS A THING I WANT, that full flower, so CURSE YOU, NAMELESS STYLIST. Sigh. That said, I would obviously still sex him seventeen ways from Sunday, so it's hardly a dealbreaker, just. FULL FLOWER. LET'S HAVE IT.)
Sooooo we flailed around for a while and then it was our turn, and they were lined up Andy-Monty-Dave-Devin-Kyle, so I went to Andy first (SO PRETTY. He is just. SO. PRETTY) and told him that his first EP has saved me from homicide on many occasions, and that no matter how upset I am, listening to it always calms me down and makes me happy. And he looked pleased/surprised and said thank you, and I was like "I love both your EPs, of course, just something about that first one especially really gets to me," and Monty goes, "That's because that's the one I played on." HEEEE. (Also? Monty has an ACCENT. An Oklahoma one, I am assuming, but. I had no idea! I'm pretty sure I have never heard Monty talk before! It was kind of great.) So at this point the rest of the band is listening to this exchange, and Dave goes, "Well, Andy is definitely against homicide" and we all kind of laughed and I said something stupid like, "I'm glad that's something we can all get behind," and then I moved down to say hi to Devin ("I'm Devin," he said cheerfully, offering his hand, and it must be weird for him to be in this band where most of the fans are at least potentially invested in basically everyone but him; I smiled and said hi but in retrospect, I wish I had said "welcome" or SOMETHING, IDK, it's not Devin's fault he's not Neal, you know? And I don't want him to feel unwelcome) and then Kyle ("Hi, you're awesome," I told him, and I shook his hand, though now I wish I'd said congrats on the new baby, and/or that I'm really enjoying his backup vocals on this tour; I should have said these things but I was still all flustered from Andy and Dave and THERE WAS A LOT GOING ON IN MY MIND, OKAY).
Then I tuned back in to the conversation that Z had been having with the other three, just in time to hear Dave say, "Monty's a murderer. We're learning all sorts of things today," or something to that effect. Apparently Andy had confirmed his anti-homicide stance, and Monty was like, "I'm in favor of it." HEEE. I AM IN FAVOR OF YOU, MONTY ANDERSON. So then Z told Dave that he has the best stage banter in rock 'n' roll (TRUFAX) (and she shook his hand, and he has REALLY NICE HANDS, you guys, big and warm and nnnngh), and he looked all pleased and then he was like, "Well, I guess I can just give the rest of the guys the night off, then, and I'll just get up there and talk." And Z and I were like, "Well, WAIT, we didn't say THAT," and Dave was like, "Because I can talk a LOT," or something to that effect. Heeeee. ALSO while he was talking to Z (MILDLY FLIRTATIOUSLY, I might add, because that is how DCook rolls, and I love him for it), I could actually focus enough to LOOK at him, and his EYES are so beautiful and he's TALL (I mean, not crazy tall, but a good six feet, I think) and just kind of ROUND and SOLID and that is ACTUALLY MY TYPE, my recent proclivity for tiny pretty band boys notwithstanding, and he is REALLY REALLY HOT. IS WHAT I AM SAYING.
And then I was like, "I feel like we're monopolizing," so Dave held out his arms for us to get on either side of him. And Z and I had been going back and forth while we were waiting in the line, wondering about whether we should ask for a hug, and I REALLY kind of wanted to, because he seemed to be giving them out pretty freely and I have wanted to hug him for a long time, for reasons both prurient and totally innocent (I mean, I dare anyone to watch his Race For Hope speech from the day after his brother died and NOT want desperately to hug him), but I couldn't bring myself to ask for it so instead we just kind of snuggled up underneath his arms, and you guys. He was wearing the SOFTEST HOODIE and he was really WARM (and it was FREEZING in there, so the warmth was EXTRA WELCOME) and did I mention TALL and SOLID and IT WAS KIND OF AMAZING, HONESTLY. Like, direct experience of David Cook being an AWESOME snuggler was not really something I NEEDED in order to have a lot of lurid fantasies about him, but it is a NICE ENHANCEMENT. as;ldkfja;sdfj;alsk df;asljdf a;sdfjkl a;sldfjk a;slkdfja;sljkdf
And then I was like, "Can we just embrace the ridiculousness of this and do finger guns?" and Dave goes, "Finger WHAT?" in--as I said before--an "I'm not sure I'm authorized to perform that act in this state" kind of shocked/amused way, and I have NO IDEA WHAT HE THOUGHT I SAID, but I would VERY MUCH LIKE TO KNOW. Also, Dave, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT WITH YOUR FINGERS. TO ME. JUST SO YOU KNOW. But ANYWAY. I of course said none of that, just looked up at him (HIS FACE WAS RIGHT NEXT TO MY FACE, OH MY GOD) and was like, "Finger GUNS?" So yeah. I stared into David Cook's eyes and said "Finger guns." HOTTTT. *facepalm* So we did finger guns, and it was HILARIOUS, and I realize now, looking at the pictures, that the guys actually thought we meant "make your fingers into guns," not the cheesy finger-guns thing. Which is ALSO hilarious. And led to some amazing faces. It also led to Dave extending his arm to make a different gun pose for the second picture (which, we did not ASK for a second picture, but the guy taking pictures was like, "Two people! You get two pictures!" which was kind of sweet), which involved him PULLING ME CLOSER in the process, and yeah.
GOOD MEET AND GREET. IS WHAT I AM SAYING. We were wondering early on if the whole thing would be worth the money, and we figured that even if it wasn't, at least we were giving the band money, which is a good thing, but yeah. TOTALLY WORTH IT. As it turns out. And not just for the snuggling, but for how NICE they all were, and how good they were at putting everyone at their ease, and AWWWW. ♥ ♥ ♥
So we thanked them and then got our tour swag (including the PICK TINS, and I know they are filled with picks that no one in the band has ever used nor even actually touched, and the idea of their DRUMMER [or rather his kid, awwww] signing a pick is inherently hilarious to me, but I still kind of love it as a souvenir, ngl), and we decamped to the lounge, since they wouldn’t actually let us stay in the venue until the show started. (UNCOOL. Apparently it's different in every venue, and I think maybe since the M&G stuff was happening on the show floor, maybe Gavin DeGraw's VIP peeps had to get in there after us? IDK.) FORTUNATELY the people in the lounge get in first anyway, and Z had very wisely suggested we get our hand stamps while we were waiting out in line, so we just got to go right in. We then proceeded to eat some extremely sketchy (and not in the good way) bacon cheese fries, and I had an extremely strong Jack and Diet Coke (seriously, I think someone pretty much just whispered the word "Coke" over it), and then the doors eventually (re)opened and we headed out to claim a spot.
I wanted to be Devin-side, both in the name of ripping off the Band-Aid and because I figured it would be less hotly-contested territory than being in front of Dave or Andy. So we got spots toward the far right of the barricade, one row back off the barricade. This would have been awesome except that there was a woman right in front of me who was pretty tall and had big hair and who proceeded to obscure my view of Dave (probably about half the time) and Andy (almost all the time) for the rest of the night. Sigh. BUT first there was Carolina Liar, and they are… hmm. Their music was not really for me, but they're all very adorable, and we were right in front of their keyboard-player, who was super-cute, with his shaggy blond hair and his adorable grin. Also their guitarist looked like a slightly taller, slightly slender-er Nico Archambault, and he was smiling cheerfully basically the ENTIRE TIME, and he was REALLY INCREDIBLY HOT and I would have climbed him like a tree. LIKE. A. TREE. So there was that? But also, Tall Chick in front of me was obviously a Carolina Liar fan as well, which was great, except that in the course of her rocking out, she was fist-pumping in such a way that she nearly hit me in the face SEVERAL TIMES. And she and her friends were basically drunk and slightly obnoxious and VERY oblivious the whole time and it was annoying. Like, enthusiasm is good! Not giving a shit about anyone's experience except your own is shitty! >:( NOT COOL, LADIES. (Everyone else around us was super-nice, though, and there was no shoving or dickery that I witnessed, so-once again-my experience at a David Cook show TOTALLY does not match up to the rumors of bitchery that I hear sometimes. Not saying that those things don't happen, but they don't tend to happen here, it seems. So I appreciate that!)
But ANYWAY. Then Dave and the boys came out and Dave had changed into this totally 90's leather jacket and it was REALLY HOT. In a lot of ways, since he was sweating by about three songs in, which did not in any way reduce my desire to lick him from head to toe. Unfortunately, due to the-have I mentioned?-sucky sound, from where we were standing, we were hearing about 80% Devin's guitar, and about 20% everything else. I could barely hear Andy at all, and it was actually really hard to hear Dave a lot of the time. So that was sad, seeing as he is, you know, KIND OF AN AMAZING SINGER. So I don't have a ton of thoughts on the individual songs, BUT. I will say that, unsurprisingly, I enjoyed all the TLM songs more live than I do on the album (and the album has been growing on me, definitely; it's a much better fall album than a summer album, IMO); they're such a fucking fantastic live band and the crowd was so into them and it was awesome to be in the middle of that energy.
Like I said, I couldn’t see Andy all that much (NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING, BTW), but when I DID see him, he was a busy, hotass little bee over there, jumping back and forth between piano and backup vocals and guitar and all the other awesome things he does. (I'm also THRILLED he's got an actual piano this time around, as opposed to just keyboards. I look forward to that coming into play more as they change up their setlist over the course of the tour.) I had a great view of Kyle, though, which was really fun, with his flying Animal hair and the aura of golden light from his cymbals; it's a very pretty picture. Monty also moved around quite a bit, and sang along a LOT, which is one of my favorite things ever. He and Andy had some very cute moments back by Kyle's riser, and at one point they were laughing about something and Dave walked by and said something in Monty's ear that made him laugh harder, and awwww. I totally have a newfound appreciation for Monty after this show; I tend to focus on Dave and Neal and Andy in terms of the Tulsa history, but obviously Monty was hugely important in that phase of their lives, too, and I'm so glad he's still with them. I keep thinking of Dave saying in that behind-the-scenes video that he's just happier when Monty's around, and awww. ♥
As for Devin, he's very cute and he definitely more than holds his own with what he's asked to do, and again, it's not his fault he's not Neal. So I actually WANT to like him, and part of my strategy in standing in front of him was to just try to embrace the new situation. But the energy is just really different, both from him individually and between him and the rest of the band, and we were hearing SO MUCH GUITAR that it was just RIGHT THERE in my face the whole time, and so many of Dave's songs are goddamn BREAKUP songs, and it was hard for me, tbh, for reasons that have nothing to do with Devin and everything to do with how I love Neal and I loved Neal in this band and I missed him, and it was hard not to imagine that the rest of the band misses him, too. So I tried REALLY REALLY HARD to get over it but I didn't quite get there. Yet. But I will! And Devin is great. So I look forward to seeing what sort of shenanigans they all get up to as the tour goes on. Also someone has a small chrome Terminator head on his amp, with glowing red eyes, and it is AWESOME, and I don't know whose amp it is but I am assuming that it's Devin's until I hear otherwise because that seems like an excellent thing for us to bond over, doesn't it? I think it does.
As far as the songs themselves, the absolute highlight for me was the NIN cover running right into Bar-ba-sol, which was a hell of a one-two punch of sexass. I mean, DAVID COOK. PLEASE SING DIRTY NIN SONGS ALL THE TIME. KTHX. (I still hope that someday he'll bust out "Closer," a la astolat's fic, but in the meantime, anything that involves a lot of talking about being on your knees is an EXCELLENT substitute.) With the leaning on the microphone and the arched neck and the fuck-me eyes and the canted hips. NNNGGGGH. And then Bar-ba-sol, which is-as I have said a billion times-hands-down my favorite song from DCTA, so it was AWESOME to hear that live and to KNOW it this time, and to be able to rock out along with it, and shout out the count-off (prompted by Dave, of course) at the beginning. UNF. (And yes, it broke my heart a little when the guitar!sex bridge came up and Dave and Devin just went to opposite sides of the stage and played to the audience. I mean, I think it was smart to go with a whole different thing? But yeah. I'm that girl, apparently. I'M REALLY TRYING NOT TO BE. But I am, right now.)
I don't know how long Dave's contract with RCA is, and I don’t have any idea if he'll stick with them (or they'll stick with him) after it's up, but part of me REALLY hopes he's going to just go to another label and be able to FULLY EMBRACE the filthydirty songs he SO VERY CLEARLY wants to sing, and that he sings INCREDIBLY WELL. I mean, there are a lot of things to love about Cook's stage presence, and in his heart he is clearly a marshmallow and I love his excess of feeeeelings, but also I love that his energy is so unabashedly sexual, without ever (to me) being skeevy. It's all very "girl, I just wanna cherish you… right up against this wall" and that TOTALLY WORKS FOR ME. Earnest slut, as someone very wise said on ontd_ai at one point. <3
ANYWAY. On the other side of the spectrum, I do love "We Believe" for all its cheesy earnestness, or earnest cheese, or whatever; that is another brand of expression that Dave is VERY good at, and that I love deeply. And I was THRILLED to hear "Paper Heart," which is definitely one of my favorites off TLM, and ditto "Let Me Fall For You," and it was awesome to hear tracks from DCTA again; it's been a while since I've listened to that album, so it felt like old friends coming back. Even CBTM has really grown on me over time. (I had to laugh that they played "Mr. Sensitive," though-I just CANNOT DEAL with that song and never have been able to, but they've played it at both their shows that I've been to. Oh Dave. I love you, questionable taste and all.) Also I REALLY love that Dave goes acoustic for "Fade Into Me," that is GORGEOUS.
There was not a ton of banter-Dave was maybe VERY slightly subdued between songs, probably because he was sick-but at one point he did make a very concerted effort to woo the house left side of the crowd, which apparently had been a lot less noisy than house right. He basically made us be quiet and asked them to be loud. HEE. And then he was like, "I feel like I'm at me and Gavin's wedding and you guys are all on his side of the family." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. OH MY GOD I LAUGHED SO HARD. And then he was like, "Y'know, that's just the metaphor that came to mind." HEEEEE. Oh Dave. I LOVE YOU. (This is the banter I linked at the top of this post, BTW, if you want to watch it for yourself.) AND he talked some more about how much he loves playing Seattle, and how much Seattle music means to him, and AWWWWWW. Thank you for loving our city, Dave! PLEASE COME BACK ALL THE TIME. Also, earlier, he was soliciting applause for Carolina Liar, and then for Gavin DeGraw, and then someone shouted out, "David Cook!" and we all cheered, and he was like, " And ME!" with this goofy, mock-excited grin on his face, and OMG ADORABLE I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIIIIIIIIIIIM. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
And then they all went away (flinging picks and drumsticks in their wake) and I was sad, but not for long, because Z and I proceeded to RACE (well, as much as the post-Sounders-game traffic permitted) up to Fremont to catch the end of Jeffrey Foucault's set. (No offense to Gavin DeGraw, about whom I know almost nothing, I just love Jeffrey Foucault more than just about anybody.) We only got about the last five songs or so, but what we got was awesome, and after the excess of sometimes-conflicting feelings I'd had during DC's show, it was wonderful to finish with something that just made me quietly, simply, profoundly happy. So that was a PERFECT coda to the evening. But more about that later, when I talk about LAST night's Jeffrey Foucault show. Hee.
AND THAT IS ALL. FOR NOW. And it is PLENTY. COME BACK SOON, BOYS, and zabira, thank you for being an EXCELLENT partner in crime, as ALWAYS. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Before I get into this, a few people have asked me for a link to Dave's cover of NIN's "The Hand That Feeds." Unfortunately, the sound at the Showbox SoDo is the devil and it is near-impossible to get decent videos from shows there, but here is a pretty good one. Alternately, there's this one from a recent show in St. Louis, which has better sound. And if you want one that has blurry underwater sound but really prime bedroom eyes, there's always this one. HEE. So TAKE YOUR PICK. (Also SUPER CUTE BANTER from the Seattle show. If that is your thing!) (And SUPER CUTE BANTER from St. Louis too. LOOK, BLAME THE YOUTUBE VORTEX, IT'S NOT MY FAULT.)
ALSO I have been wanting to link to this really really REALLY beautiful piano-only cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" that Dave did at the Tulsa soundcheck. I guess he doesn't feel like it's show-ready yet, but man, it made me cry, so I can't wait till he breaks this out for real. The arrangement is gorgeous, and he's accompanying himself (♥_♥) and his voice is just so fucking beautiful and I love him I love him I LOVE HIM.
But anyway. SHOW. HERE. IT HAPPENED. Pics and video compiled here, thanks to spikedluv!
Soundcheck: Come Back To Me, Fade Into Me
Circadian
Heroes
Mr. Sensitive
Paper Heart
4 Letter Word
Come Back To Me
Right Here, With You
Let Me Fall for You
The Last Goodbye
We Believe
The Hand That Feeds (Nine Inch Nails cover)
Bar-ba-sol
Light On
Fade Into Me
It's funny, because the things I had really figured I was paying for with the VIP pass were the soundcheck and the early entry (and the pick tin), and I figured the actual M&G part was just going to be weird and awkward and whatever. Actually, as it turned out, the part of the soundcheck that we got to hear was only two songs, and it was a little awkward-like, I feel uncomfortable staring adoringly at someone while I'm standing basically right in front of them with all the house lights up, you know? Also I felt GUILTY, because the soundcheck essentially became an extra performance for them, once you put paying customers in front of them (so they had already checked all their levels and whatnot anyway), so I felt like we were making them do extra work instead of just letting them do what they needed to do. Apparently what I really want is to be a FLY ON THE WALL for their actual soundcheck. Hee. AND I felt extra-guilty because between songs Dave was tuning and he was like, "Talk amongst yourselves," and when he was just talking, his voice was all scratchy and raspy and so he's CLEARLY still kind of sick and awwww. I'M SORRY YOU HAD TO SING EXTRA WHEN YOU WERE SICK, DAVE. :( So yeah. Soundcheck. Kind of weird? I mean, awesome because they are awesome, and it actually turned out to be the best I could hear Dave all night (because the sound in that venue suuuuuucks), so I'm glad for that, but. Also a bit weird.
After that they had us all line up for the picture portion of things, and zabira and I were about two-thirds of the way back in the line so we had a fair amount of time to plan what we wanted to say (and get nervous). Also we had a lot of time to enjoy the scenery, which included Andy P. Skib doing some really, REALLY excellent leaning against the wall. Hnngh. (We also had time to witness some kind of dick moves, like the one lady who asked the WHOLE REST OF THE BAND to move out of the picture so she could get one with just her and Dave, and also someone who asked Andy and Monty to switch places so that she could stand between Andy and Dave. And, like, I sort of get that this is your one shot and you want to have your body touching El Skib's body, but also? Kind of a dick move, IMO. Also Andy and Monty SWITCHED BACK afterward, which was kind of hilarious-clearly they have a SET ORDER for this lineup and they were sticking to it, dammit.) (Also this feels like a good time to state my opinion that, his overall extreme hotness aside, Dave's hair is NOT GOOD right now. Whatever stylist did that to him should be fired immediately, because his hair looked AWESOME during all the album promo stuff, so clearly it's POSSIBLE, and therefore SOMEONE is denying us the FULL FLOWER OF DAVID COOK'S ATTRACTIVENESS and I DON'T ASK FOR MUCH out of life, okay, but THAT IS A THING I WANT, that full flower, so CURSE YOU, NAMELESS STYLIST. Sigh. That said, I would obviously still sex him seventeen ways from Sunday, so it's hardly a dealbreaker, just. FULL FLOWER. LET'S HAVE IT.)
Sooooo we flailed around for a while and then it was our turn, and they were lined up Andy-Monty-Dave-Devin-Kyle, so I went to Andy first (SO PRETTY. He is just. SO. PRETTY) and told him that his first EP has saved me from homicide on many occasions, and that no matter how upset I am, listening to it always calms me down and makes me happy. And he looked pleased/surprised and said thank you, and I was like "I love both your EPs, of course, just something about that first one especially really gets to me," and Monty goes, "That's because that's the one I played on." HEEEE. (Also? Monty has an ACCENT. An Oklahoma one, I am assuming, but. I had no idea! I'm pretty sure I have never heard Monty talk before! It was kind of great.) So at this point the rest of the band is listening to this exchange, and Dave goes, "Well, Andy is definitely against homicide" and we all kind of laughed and I said something stupid like, "I'm glad that's something we can all get behind," and then I moved down to say hi to Devin ("I'm Devin," he said cheerfully, offering his hand, and it must be weird for him to be in this band where most of the fans are at least potentially invested in basically everyone but him; I smiled and said hi but in retrospect, I wish I had said "welcome" or SOMETHING, IDK, it's not Devin's fault he's not Neal, you know? And I don't want him to feel unwelcome) and then Kyle ("Hi, you're awesome," I told him, and I shook his hand, though now I wish I'd said congrats on the new baby, and/or that I'm really enjoying his backup vocals on this tour; I should have said these things but I was still all flustered from Andy and Dave and THERE WAS A LOT GOING ON IN MY MIND, OKAY).
Then I tuned back in to the conversation that Z had been having with the other three, just in time to hear Dave say, "Monty's a murderer. We're learning all sorts of things today," or something to that effect. Apparently Andy had confirmed his anti-homicide stance, and Monty was like, "I'm in favor of it." HEEE. I AM IN FAVOR OF YOU, MONTY ANDERSON. So then Z told Dave that he has the best stage banter in rock 'n' roll (TRUFAX) (and she shook his hand, and he has REALLY NICE HANDS, you guys, big and warm and nnnngh), and he looked all pleased and then he was like, "Well, I guess I can just give the rest of the guys the night off, then, and I'll just get up there and talk." And Z and I were like, "Well, WAIT, we didn't say THAT," and Dave was like, "Because I can talk a LOT," or something to that effect. Heeeee. ALSO while he was talking to Z (MILDLY FLIRTATIOUSLY, I might add, because that is how DCook rolls, and I love him for it), I could actually focus enough to LOOK at him, and his EYES are so beautiful and he's TALL (I mean, not crazy tall, but a good six feet, I think) and just kind of ROUND and SOLID and that is ACTUALLY MY TYPE, my recent proclivity for tiny pretty band boys notwithstanding, and he is REALLY REALLY HOT. IS WHAT I AM SAYING.
And then I was like, "I feel like we're monopolizing," so Dave held out his arms for us to get on either side of him. And Z and I had been going back and forth while we were waiting in the line, wondering about whether we should ask for a hug, and I REALLY kind of wanted to, because he seemed to be giving them out pretty freely and I have wanted to hug him for a long time, for reasons both prurient and totally innocent (I mean, I dare anyone to watch his Race For Hope speech from the day after his brother died and NOT want desperately to hug him), but I couldn't bring myself to ask for it so instead we just kind of snuggled up underneath his arms, and you guys. He was wearing the SOFTEST HOODIE and he was really WARM (and it was FREEZING in there, so the warmth was EXTRA WELCOME) and did I mention TALL and SOLID and IT WAS KIND OF AMAZING, HONESTLY. Like, direct experience of David Cook being an AWESOME snuggler was not really something I NEEDED in order to have a lot of lurid fantasies about him, but it is a NICE ENHANCEMENT. as;ldkfja;sdfj;alsk df;asljdf a;sdfjkl a;sldfjk a;slkdfja;sljkdf
And then I was like, "Can we just embrace the ridiculousness of this and do finger guns?" and Dave goes, "Finger WHAT?" in--as I said before--an "I'm not sure I'm authorized to perform that act in this state" kind of shocked/amused way, and I have NO IDEA WHAT HE THOUGHT I SAID, but I would VERY MUCH LIKE TO KNOW. Also, Dave, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT WITH YOUR FINGERS. TO ME. JUST SO YOU KNOW. But ANYWAY. I of course said none of that, just looked up at him (HIS FACE WAS RIGHT NEXT TO MY FACE, OH MY GOD) and was like, "Finger GUNS?" So yeah. I stared into David Cook's eyes and said "Finger guns." HOTTTT. *facepalm* So we did finger guns, and it was HILARIOUS, and I realize now, looking at the pictures, that the guys actually thought we meant "make your fingers into guns," not the cheesy finger-guns thing. Which is ALSO hilarious. And led to some amazing faces. It also led to Dave extending his arm to make a different gun pose for the second picture (which, we did not ASK for a second picture, but the guy taking pictures was like, "Two people! You get two pictures!" which was kind of sweet), which involved him PULLING ME CLOSER in the process, and yeah.
GOOD MEET AND GREET. IS WHAT I AM SAYING. We were wondering early on if the whole thing would be worth the money, and we figured that even if it wasn't, at least we were giving the band money, which is a good thing, but yeah. TOTALLY WORTH IT. As it turns out. And not just for the snuggling, but for how NICE they all were, and how good they were at putting everyone at their ease, and AWWWW. ♥ ♥ ♥
So we thanked them and then got our tour swag (including the PICK TINS, and I know they are filled with picks that no one in the band has ever used nor even actually touched, and the idea of their DRUMMER [or rather his kid, awwww] signing a pick is inherently hilarious to me, but I still kind of love it as a souvenir, ngl), and we decamped to the lounge, since they wouldn’t actually let us stay in the venue until the show started. (UNCOOL. Apparently it's different in every venue, and I think maybe since the M&G stuff was happening on the show floor, maybe Gavin DeGraw's VIP peeps had to get in there after us? IDK.) FORTUNATELY the people in the lounge get in first anyway, and Z had very wisely suggested we get our hand stamps while we were waiting out in line, so we just got to go right in. We then proceeded to eat some extremely sketchy (and not in the good way) bacon cheese fries, and I had an extremely strong Jack and Diet Coke (seriously, I think someone pretty much just whispered the word "Coke" over it), and then the doors eventually (re)opened and we headed out to claim a spot.
I wanted to be Devin-side, both in the name of ripping off the Band-Aid and because I figured it would be less hotly-contested territory than being in front of Dave or Andy. So we got spots toward the far right of the barricade, one row back off the barricade. This would have been awesome except that there was a woman right in front of me who was pretty tall and had big hair and who proceeded to obscure my view of Dave (probably about half the time) and Andy (almost all the time) for the rest of the night. Sigh. BUT first there was Carolina Liar, and they are… hmm. Their music was not really for me, but they're all very adorable, and we were right in front of their keyboard-player, who was super-cute, with his shaggy blond hair and his adorable grin. Also their guitarist looked like a slightly taller, slightly slender-er Nico Archambault, and he was smiling cheerfully basically the ENTIRE TIME, and he was REALLY INCREDIBLY HOT and I would have climbed him like a tree. LIKE. A. TREE. So there was that? But also, Tall Chick in front of me was obviously a Carolina Liar fan as well, which was great, except that in the course of her rocking out, she was fist-pumping in such a way that she nearly hit me in the face SEVERAL TIMES. And she and her friends were basically drunk and slightly obnoxious and VERY oblivious the whole time and it was annoying. Like, enthusiasm is good! Not giving a shit about anyone's experience except your own is shitty! >:( NOT COOL, LADIES. (Everyone else around us was super-nice, though, and there was no shoving or dickery that I witnessed, so-once again-my experience at a David Cook show TOTALLY does not match up to the rumors of bitchery that I hear sometimes. Not saying that those things don't happen, but they don't tend to happen here, it seems. So I appreciate that!)
But ANYWAY. Then Dave and the boys came out and Dave had changed into this totally 90's leather jacket and it was REALLY HOT. In a lot of ways, since he was sweating by about three songs in, which did not in any way reduce my desire to lick him from head to toe. Unfortunately, due to the-have I mentioned?-sucky sound, from where we were standing, we were hearing about 80% Devin's guitar, and about 20% everything else. I could barely hear Andy at all, and it was actually really hard to hear Dave a lot of the time. So that was sad, seeing as he is, you know, KIND OF AN AMAZING SINGER. So I don't have a ton of thoughts on the individual songs, BUT. I will say that, unsurprisingly, I enjoyed all the TLM songs more live than I do on the album (and the album has been growing on me, definitely; it's a much better fall album than a summer album, IMO); they're such a fucking fantastic live band and the crowd was so into them and it was awesome to be in the middle of that energy.
Like I said, I couldn’t see Andy all that much (NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING, BTW), but when I DID see him, he was a busy, hotass little bee over there, jumping back and forth between piano and backup vocals and guitar and all the other awesome things he does. (I'm also THRILLED he's got an actual piano this time around, as opposed to just keyboards. I look forward to that coming into play more as they change up their setlist over the course of the tour.) I had a great view of Kyle, though, which was really fun, with his flying Animal hair and the aura of golden light from his cymbals; it's a very pretty picture. Monty also moved around quite a bit, and sang along a LOT, which is one of my favorite things ever. He and Andy had some very cute moments back by Kyle's riser, and at one point they were laughing about something and Dave walked by and said something in Monty's ear that made him laugh harder, and awwww. I totally have a newfound appreciation for Monty after this show; I tend to focus on Dave and Neal and Andy in terms of the Tulsa history, but obviously Monty was hugely important in that phase of their lives, too, and I'm so glad he's still with them. I keep thinking of Dave saying in that behind-the-scenes video that he's just happier when Monty's around, and awww. ♥
As for Devin, he's very cute and he definitely more than holds his own with what he's asked to do, and again, it's not his fault he's not Neal. So I actually WANT to like him, and part of my strategy in standing in front of him was to just try to embrace the new situation. But the energy is just really different, both from him individually and between him and the rest of the band, and we were hearing SO MUCH GUITAR that it was just RIGHT THERE in my face the whole time, and so many of Dave's songs are goddamn BREAKUP songs, and it was hard for me, tbh, for reasons that have nothing to do with Devin and everything to do with how I love Neal and I loved Neal in this band and I missed him, and it was hard not to imagine that the rest of the band misses him, too. So I tried REALLY REALLY HARD to get over it but I didn't quite get there. Yet. But I will! And Devin is great. So I look forward to seeing what sort of shenanigans they all get up to as the tour goes on. Also someone has a small chrome Terminator head on his amp, with glowing red eyes, and it is AWESOME, and I don't know whose amp it is but I am assuming that it's Devin's until I hear otherwise because that seems like an excellent thing for us to bond over, doesn't it? I think it does.
As far as the songs themselves, the absolute highlight for me was the NIN cover running right into Bar-ba-sol, which was a hell of a one-two punch of sexass. I mean, DAVID COOK. PLEASE SING DIRTY NIN SONGS ALL THE TIME. KTHX. (I still hope that someday he'll bust out "Closer," a la astolat's fic, but in the meantime, anything that involves a lot of talking about being on your knees is an EXCELLENT substitute.) With the leaning on the microphone and the arched neck and the fuck-me eyes and the canted hips. NNNGGGGH. And then Bar-ba-sol, which is-as I have said a billion times-hands-down my favorite song from DCTA, so it was AWESOME to hear that live and to KNOW it this time, and to be able to rock out along with it, and shout out the count-off (prompted by Dave, of course) at the beginning. UNF. (And yes, it broke my heart a little when the guitar!sex bridge came up and Dave and Devin just went to opposite sides of the stage and played to the audience. I mean, I think it was smart to go with a whole different thing? But yeah. I'm that girl, apparently. I'M REALLY TRYING NOT TO BE. But I am, right now.)
I don't know how long Dave's contract with RCA is, and I don’t have any idea if he'll stick with them (or they'll stick with him) after it's up, but part of me REALLY hopes he's going to just go to another label and be able to FULLY EMBRACE the filthydirty songs he SO VERY CLEARLY wants to sing, and that he sings INCREDIBLY WELL. I mean, there are a lot of things to love about Cook's stage presence, and in his heart he is clearly a marshmallow and I love his excess of feeeeelings, but also I love that his energy is so unabashedly sexual, without ever (to me) being skeevy. It's all very "girl, I just wanna cherish you… right up against this wall" and that TOTALLY WORKS FOR ME. Earnest slut, as someone very wise said on ontd_ai at one point. <3
ANYWAY. On the other side of the spectrum, I do love "We Believe" for all its cheesy earnestness, or earnest cheese, or whatever; that is another brand of expression that Dave is VERY good at, and that I love deeply. And I was THRILLED to hear "Paper Heart," which is definitely one of my favorites off TLM, and ditto "Let Me Fall For You," and it was awesome to hear tracks from DCTA again; it's been a while since I've listened to that album, so it felt like old friends coming back. Even CBTM has really grown on me over time. (I had to laugh that they played "Mr. Sensitive," though-I just CANNOT DEAL with that song and never have been able to, but they've played it at both their shows that I've been to. Oh Dave. I love you, questionable taste and all.) Also I REALLY love that Dave goes acoustic for "Fade Into Me," that is GORGEOUS.
There was not a ton of banter-Dave was maybe VERY slightly subdued between songs, probably because he was sick-but at one point he did make a very concerted effort to woo the house left side of the crowd, which apparently had been a lot less noisy than house right. He basically made us be quiet and asked them to be loud. HEE. And then he was like, "I feel like I'm at me and Gavin's wedding and you guys are all on his side of the family." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. OH MY GOD I LAUGHED SO HARD. And then he was like, "Y'know, that's just the metaphor that came to mind." HEEEEE. Oh Dave. I LOVE YOU. (This is the banter I linked at the top of this post, BTW, if you want to watch it for yourself.) AND he talked some more about how much he loves playing Seattle, and how much Seattle music means to him, and AWWWWWW. Thank you for loving our city, Dave! PLEASE COME BACK ALL THE TIME. Also, earlier, he was soliciting applause for Carolina Liar, and then for Gavin DeGraw, and then someone shouted out, "David Cook!" and we all cheered, and he was like, " And ME!" with this goofy, mock-excited grin on his face, and OMG ADORABLE I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIIIIIIIIIIIM. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
And then they all went away (flinging picks and drumsticks in their wake) and I was sad, but not for long, because Z and I proceeded to RACE (well, as much as the post-Sounders-game traffic permitted) up to Fremont to catch the end of Jeffrey Foucault's set. (No offense to Gavin DeGraw, about whom I know almost nothing, I just love Jeffrey Foucault more than just about anybody.) We only got about the last five songs or so, but what we got was awesome, and after the excess of sometimes-conflicting feelings I'd had during DC's show, it was wonderful to finish with something that just made me quietly, simply, profoundly happy. So that was a PERFECT coda to the evening. But more about that later, when I talk about LAST night's Jeffrey Foucault show. Hee.
AND THAT IS ALL. FOR NOW. And it is PLENTY. COME BACK SOON, BOYS, and zabira, thank you for being an EXCELLENT partner in crime, as ALWAYS. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥