Season 7 "American Idol" champ David Cook rocks Seattle faithful

David Cook rocked the house Monday night and Seattle fans definitely showed the love.

"I can't wait to come back to Seattle again," Cook told the cheering crowd toward the end of the show at the Showbox SoDo. And before you think he says that every night, when he was asked about this in the private meet-and-greet an hour later, he and the band all nodded and said, yeah, it really was a great crowd.

Which is a good thing because the singer from Missouri who won over voters on Season 7 of "American Idol" picked this night to bring in a film crew. Afterward I asked Cook if it was for a tour DVD and he said: "I don't know; I guess we just want to have it." So Cook fans, stay tuned.

Here are some random observations from the show and the after-show meet and greet:

• Those who might be inclined to dismiss Cook because his career took off as a result of "Idol" ought to give the man a fair chance. With more than 100 shows under his belt, he's steadily honing his rocker chops. Clearly his guitar playing has picked up speed since "Idol" and his duels with lead guitarist Neal Tiemann were impressive.

• Highlights for me were the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies," and the tour's namesake, "Declaration." Cook's vocals sounded pretty much as they did on "Idol" and didn't seem to be strained after more than six straight months of touring.

• The crowd -- from kids at their first concert to the middle-aged wine-bar set -- all seemed to be having a blast despite the usual pushing and shoving up in front of the stage.

• Cook had arrived overnight from Yakima and had time on Monday to do some shopping and see some of the sites downtown. By 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, the band was preparing to board the tour bus for the five-hour trip over to Spokane for the next show.

• A select few got passes to meet Cook and the band upstairs after the show. One of those lucky few was a high-school classmate of Cook's back in Missouri who sang with him in choir. Cook the choir boy? Awww .... But just as he was in my phone interview last week, Cook was as nice a guy as you'll ever meet. In fact, the whole band seemed like regular guys. Regular guys who just happen to be living out their rock-star dreams.

• Cook threw out the first pitch at the Mariners game earlier in the evening. He's a die-hard Kansas City Royals fan, so take pity on him.

• DC only recently joined the multitudes on Twitter. He's @thedavidcook. He tweeted after the show: "Seattle, you were an incredible audience. Baseball and music...what a great day. On to Spokane."

Here's my very shaky video of "Kiss on the Neck":

If you went to show, give me your review in the comments below.

(Photo of Cook in Seattle by Bob Payne, seattletimes.com)