Idol Chatter & Voice Views

David Cook won over millions of fans on American Idol with unique versions of other artists’ songs.

Friday night, he won over the crowd at the York Fair grandstand with his own music.

His 13-song set list didn’t include a single full-blown cover (unless you want to count the Tulsa band MWK’s pre-Idol “Til I’m Blue”). And no one in the audience seemed to care.

Fans in the jam-packed track seating jumped to their feet with the first chords of “Heroes” and stayed on their feet until the show ended more than an hour later with David tossing guitar picks into the crowd.

Along the way, David stopped performing long enough to thank the crowd three or four times for their support.

On about the fourth occasion, he explained why he’s so thankful.

“I’m been saying thank you a lot tonight, and I mean it,” he said. “It wasn’t that long ago that we were doing this to nobody. To be able to do travel the country and play music and have people show up …”

David’s words trailed off as the cheers drowned him out.

Of course, most of those fans showed up because they adopted David Cook as their favorite on season seven of Idol and have been following him ever since.

Fans like Katie Nace, 16, of York, who admitted she’s slightly obsessed with Mr. Cook. She knows why his guitar bears the intials “A.C.” She knows he’s left-handed. She knows he used to work as a bartender.

And she knows every single lyric to every single song on his CD, which makes her more than slightly obsessed in the mind of friend Kara Bell, 15, of York.

“I kinda screamed very loudly,” Katie said of her reaction when she learned the season seven Idol would be playing at the York Fair.

Standing in line waiting for a chance to meet David and his band backstage, Phyllis Seitz of York proclaimed him “the best Idol ever.”

And sitting in the third row and anxiously waiting for the concert to start, Alyssa Reigart, 22, of Dover, recalled scooting to the front of the couch and listening intently as David sang “Always Be My Baby” on Idol’s Mariah Carey night.

“I absolutely love what he did on Idol,” Alyssa said. “Now, to get to see him like this, it’s like coming full circle. He could sing ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ and it would sound great.”

And several fans said they appreciated the fact that David seems like a down-to-earth guys who’s just darn genuine when he sings.

But not every fan was a Cook fanatic from his days on Idol. Take Elizabeth Kessler, 20, of Stewartstown for instance.

“My friend told me about his CD, and it was really good,” she said, referring to concert-going colleague Kristin Adams, 19, of Fawn Grove.

Then Elizabeth rattled off a long list of songs from the CD that she hoped to hear during the upcoming concert.

Back in row three, Alyssa didn’t bother listing songs, saying she wanted to hear “everything off the album.”

David nearly obliged.

His set included 10 of the 13 non-bonus tracks on his self-titled debut CD, one noteable exception being “Permanent.”

Fans were also treated to a one-track taste of the 2006 independent CD “Analog Heart” and an unreleased song, “We’re Only Honest When We’re Sleeping.”

As for highlights, there was an raucous rendition of “Kiss on the Neck” — much more raucous than the hidden track on the CD — with a touch of “Hotel California” mixed in.

And there was a guitars-blazing extended version of “I Did It for You” that had the crowd in a frenzy.

But the wildest cheers of the night came when David launched into his current single, “Come Back To Me,” which was also his last song of the night.

Did it all work?

Just ask the fans.

“It was fantastic, as usual,” said Britney Marsh, 20, of Carlisle.

As usual?

Turns out it’s the second time Britney has seen David live. She was at his Dickinson College show earlier this year.

Seems Britney’s mom, Penny Seaks, is something of a David Cook fanatic. Britney admitted they’ll likely also be in the audience the next time he performs in the area.

“This time, he had a little more stage room than at Dickinson,” she said. “So he interacted with the crowd more. That was nice.”

Victoria Keener, 13, of Carlisle, said she could sum up the show in one word: “Amazing.”

“It sounded exactly like his CD,” she said.

And Mindy Meredith, 21, of Perry Hall, Md., described the show as “awesome.”

“He’s got a great voice. He’s a great entertainer. And he’s hot.”

Hmm. Your friendly Idol Chatter critic wouldn’t be a good judge of that.

But the music sure was.

Set List

1. Heroes
2. We’re Only Honest When We’re Sleeping
3. Declaration
4. Life on the Moon
5. Bar-ba-sol
6. Kiss on the Neck
7. Mr. Sensitive
8. Til I’m Blue (MWK song)
9. I Did It for You
10. Light On
11. A Daily Anthem

Encore
12. Straight Ahead (from Analog Heart)
13. Come Back to Me

OK, help me out here, David Cook fans.

Two photos of David playing drums during the opening act, featuring Phil Marshall, follow.

I missed that part of the concert because I was busy inside the grandstand writing this blog.

But is this something David normally does? Anyone know?

Feel free to post a comment below. And let everyone know what you thought of the show.