I said that (I) personally see his career arc or journey branding
himself as a rocker, up to this point, more credible and more believable
than Cook – in part because there has not been the amount of deviation
or disconnect in the music the audience heard him sing on the show, what
he’s sung in appearances after the show, and what appeared on his CD.

I think there are a number of factors that played into this, but I’ll focus on the show, itself. Even though David was on S7 and James on S10, a “mere” three years difference, Idol had evolved into another animal from 2008 to 2011. In S7, as in previous years, the contestants were given all kinds of genres and famous performers’ catalogs to sing and were judged on how versatile they were and how well they could “make a song their own,” even if it was something they’d never perform after the show or if they had their own druthers. In S10, Idol was finally allowing people to stick more to their own genres no matter what week it was. Not that they didn’t have different themes, but you can find songs that fit into your wheelhouse, even with the different themes. Just look at Scotty. I don’t think that kid ever stepped out of his box — at least not to the point where it was a water cooler moment.

And, of course, Cook had to deal with a coronation song that was voted on by the public (purportedly) and not rock in the least.

The fact that David did pull these things off — both the versatility and selling that coronation song to the point that it went platinum — makes him a living, breathing Rorschach test at times. You see what you see. Finally, when he gets to do what *he* wants — within the constraints of winning Idol and a label that wants to cash in on that win — some rock fans don’t see their version of rock. Pop fans want to hear Always Be My Baby type songs. Some people want to see him do a country crossover considering how well he rearranged and performed Little Sparrow. It’s both a testament to his talent and a bit of a winner’s burden — at least from Idol as it was then, rather than at it is now.

That is a great comparison. I agree. And I love both Bruce and Axl (well old Axl, he’s kind of a trainwreck any more).
Different rock styles and genres for different moods. I guess I should have clarified. After Daughtry and Cook, James was the first to take it a step further into metal, harder sound and genre.
But  I actually enjoy all three.

Breaking news, new music, special live performances….that’s the
coverage for Idol alums, beyond the MAIN FOCUS which is the CURRENT
season of Idol and other TV shows.

Damn him for not doing a new song at Tiger Jam.

In any event, one of the significant aspects of this event is that, ever since David won Idol, some fans and some of David’s critics have been clamoring for him to open for a big act, like a Jon Bon Jovi. They argued that it would build audience. If I’m recalling correctly, this is the first time David’s done it and — granted it’s not a whole tour — but I was very interested in how it would go over. Whether he would do well with a crowd who, primarily, did not come to see him and whether it will help him get a few new ears. If it works to sell some music, I’m all for it and I hope it gets him additional gigs of the same nature, even though there are only a very few big acts in David’s genre who regularly tour, and some — like Springsteen — don’t even have openers.

Also, he did a cover of a King’s X song, and the band was very favorable
and some of their fans checked it out too.  So I think he is on the
right track to establish himself in rock.
I’ve come to accept that David is not going to “rawk” in that way that
many of his fans so desire him to. I know he can and I understand the
label likes to keep him in the nice and neat commercial box. But at some
point the current work has to speak to the vision of the artist and all
it has shown me is that David has a defined sound and he’s sticking to
it.

I agree that David might not rock “officially” anytime soon as a solo act, but now more to “point the current work has to speak to the vision of the artist and all
it has shown me is that David has a defined sound and he’s sticking to
it.” From his experience with rock radio-plays, even Daughtry’s  and now Durbin’s struggles with, it seems to me that “idol” factor plays a big role in taking in consideration their(idols) music like “serious” to pay attention to and to give some rock-cred to them. There is no problem to play Gotye and be #1 on alt with that mocking song, or even sounds that come from laptops as collections of kitchen tools or whatever(the video in my previous post and Gotye’s Making Mirrors album is not far away from). So, I agree that Durbin should stick with what is doing now musically and take advantage of his rock indie label supports to get some rock cred touring as a rock act and David to define a style that fans and new ones to know it as a DC style even though  the
label likes to keep him in the nice and neat commercial box. And I would like the problem with DC touring with a musically softer act not to be repeated, like they did with GDG who gained lots of new fans from DC but not so much vice versa. DC is rocking a lot at his shows, so a partner on a verge of BJ, Daughtry, or other more established, with less soft-sounds acts it would be much better I think to gain more fans.

IMO, I thought that 45 minute setlist was well thought out, and sequenced like an album…packed 9 songs in there, including his familiar songs from the radio and a well known cover set along with representative cuts from both albums, something to interest Bon Jovi fans and DC fans alike; perhaps not the venue, or the moment to intro a new song.

To the vast majority of the audience, more than half the setlist was already new songs, so a true new song from Cook isn’t a special treat. 

The Tiger Jam setlist was a very nicely done “opener” setlist (which is kinda fun, given that it was constructed very much like Cook’s headliner setlists, only shorter). 

First half = audience is actual fans and people who are self-selected as willing to give new bands a listen. Three songs that give a good rockin’ sense of Cook’s music that wasn’t released to radio, plus the lesser radio hit from DCTR as a reminder he’s that dude (CBTM). Note that the songs Cook usually tags as keystones to each album (Circadian and Declaration) are included, as is the sports-licensing-anthem Heroes.

Second half = people here for the headliner, but not so distracted or intent on boozing that they waited for breakdown/set-up to trickle in. Led Zep sequence (Rock & Roll/partial Whole Lotta Lovin’) to give them a familiar touchstone for rockin’ out (“yes, he’s one of us — we’re having absolueffinglutely having fun now!”), leading into BBS (“and he can rock just as hard on his own”).

Largest non-coronation-song radio hit (LO) is near the end, to maximize recognition from radio listeners (openers typically do this), followed by the acoustic Fade Into Me because… that may come under the heading of “because he can.” It puts a ballad (a form even metalhead bands often have in their repertoire) in a contemporary context (the current acoustic trend), and it’s extremely memorable in a water-cooler way, which Cook needs to be in order to have JBJ fans remember his show after an exciting evening with the headliner they came to see.

 MIX 94.1 posted a sneak preview of a “From Here to Zero” video from the Underground Lounge on their Facebook page, and promised a Full Video *soon*, when asked for a timeframe. (ought not to cuss at the fans. Heh.)

This station has been so supportive of David, it’s cool that he gives them great stuff for their web page that we get to enjoy – the excellent video they did of the RiTD cover from Pet-a-Palooza, and now this exclusive of the new song – they have a nice reciprocal relationship.

Of course, now this post is “slip slidin’ away” off the front page, but there will be somewhere to put the video link when they post it, I’m sure.

I would think, though, if he was going to do a new song, it would be better to do it in front of fans like in the radio show, then he can see their reaction.  That would be harder to tell with a large group of mainly non-fans.