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Review: David Cook makes ’em scream at Kuss

Barbara Perenic David Cook at the Kuss Auditorium

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer Updated 6:52 AM Thursday, May 28, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — He used to be king.

Now a week after bequeathing his “American Idol” crown to Kris Allen, David Cook is just another guy playing third-generation grunge-rock.

So let’s be honest here — it’s probably not the music that led to the fastest sellout in Kuss Auditorium history (three minutes and all 1,500 tickets were gone).

It’s not every day that an Idol comes to town.

It’s not every day that Kuss Auditorium gets a show that appeals to people not already through menopause.

But with just one album to his name and no real breakout hit, the Idol emeritus on Wednesday night, May 27, came to Kuss ready for prime-time.

One week to the day after he became yesterday’s Idol, Cook seemingly realizes he either has to put-up or go the way of Taylor Hicks.

Somehow, though, it’s doubtful Hicks ever had this many screaming girls at one concert (not unless the Doobie Brothers have made a surprise comeback at the high-school level).

Of the 1,500 people in attendance, surely 1,499 of them were female. Or maybe it only sounded like it.

But past the Beatles, teen girls rarely know how to pick enduring music acts.

Cook can rock his faithful, but that doesn’t make his music any more memorable than Daughtry or Nickelback or any other post-Nirvana band that has come to define generic “alt-rock.”

Roughly translated, he’s going to be a big star.

Seriously, though, about the only time his hour-long set sounded any different was when his band ripped into a wild cover of “Hot for Teacher,” proving that “Idol” totally needs to do a Van Halen night instead of all that Barry Manilow stuff.

But now that he’s barely past the “Idol” phase of his career — and early on Wednesday, he seemed genuinely stunned by the number of people standing up and screaming at him — Cook needs to learn one big lesson.

Don’t let the opening act upstage you.

Opener Ryan Star (not to be confused with the old “Idol” contestant Ryan Starr) proved himself to be a more compelling frontman and his band rocked harder.

Then again, Star by nature has to work harder — he’s trying to make it the old-fashioned way.

One 30-minute opening set at a time.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

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