Presumably you and your family will want to eat while you are in town. Here are a few suggestions.

Pre-Race Pasta Loading

• Al Tiramasu. Lots of seafood, but the pasta is reputably good too.
• Sette Osteria. Marine Corps Marathon runner approved.
• Sette Bello. The executive chef’s Cafe Milano is supposedly better known for taking care of celebrities, but the service and energy at the Clarendon location works for me.

Post-Race Brunch

• Tonic. Casual for race goers, Washington Post approved.
• Luna Grill and Diner. Probably not suitable for large groups, but tasty egg dishes and low-key atmosphere.
• Tunnicliffs. Some service issues, but a good brunch in a casual atmosphere. Also Washington Post approved.

Burgers

• Palena. Legendary DC burger. Still getting food press after being on the menu for years.
• Ray’s Hell Burger. The best burger I have eaten in my life under $10. It was good enough for Pres. Obama, it should be good enough for all of us. (Possible crowd issues and zero ambience or privacy, though.
• Central DC. Lobster Burger. Ah-may-zing. Heard some menu items are not up to this caliber, but if you can get this and the kit kat bar, it doesn’t matter.
• Five Guys. Not even linking, because they are everywhere.

Bars and Clubs.

Bourbon. PX. Churchkey. Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar. Gibson. 18th Street Lounge. Something for every mood. But I admittedly don’t know from bottle service, and have more often attended divey happy hours. I can wholeheartedly endorse Spider Kellys, though: good and not divey.

Enjoy. Race well. It’s a good town; hope you have fun here.

Things are in ever sharper focus. Now he’s convinced that they’ll be back in the studio by February, still anticipating a summer release.

And again, this strikes me as not that unusual. Because he’s preparing for it.

Here’s a twitvid from Andrew Cook, the content of which I will ignore for this analysis. (Although if you watch it for that, it’s quite adorable and genuine.)

The point here? He’s living at his brother’s house. He doesn’t play instruments. One can therefore assume that any and all performance-related equipment is Dave’s. And it looks like this room (which I won’t call a studio because that would mean more acoustic sealing and rugs) has quite a bit of it.

He has a small amp, a keyboard, and a fairly expensive piece of drum production software. The guitars will probably come home when he does. (And I’m sure there’s some nice piece of audio interface equipment to get all of that onto the computer.)

Assume that the band keeps writing, then gets off the road sometime in December, and everyone returns home. Cook mucks around through December and early January, and probably brings back five (or even more) “rough demo” songs before the band goes into the studio. They continue to write and record over the next few months, and then go for mastering and post production in early-mid summer.

Again, I just don’t think it requires superhuman skills to go from where they are to an album in the next 10 months or so.

But I remain amused at the way his attitude turned from active disdain to grudging acceptance as a potential promotional tool to embracing it like a…person who embraces things enthusiastically. (I finally knew it was him when he started following Katy Perry. [sigh] At least he’s following Orianthi, too.)

(For the record, I do not Twitter. I could go into very long, detailed explanations as to why, but they largely boil down to: 1) I want to know what I’m clicking, not play guessing games with bit.ly, 2) unthreaded replies can suck it, and 3) the credulity threshold on Twitter seems to be lower than on the internet at large, if that’s even possible. [Also, no matter how many text messages I receive, seeing "u" for "you" still makes my soul shrivel.])

Now, there’s been some popcorn-worthiness already, including a sibling twitwar that probably annoyed their mother to no end.

Of course, having 27K people peering over one’s shoulder, 2000 of whom are actively egging things on, makes the whole thing a tad bit strange.

But I’ll be curious to see what happens next. Just please, for the love of all that’s holy, never actually respond to an unfollowed fan tweet. It will cause a ruckus.

And in conclusion, I think this sums things up nicely:

@thedavidcook Yay! I’m so excited to see you here, sir! (And I, um… apologize in advance for the internet.)

I don’t think it’s overambitious at all.

In 2008, Cook came into making an album with two albums of pre-Idol material, but no guarantee (or, probably, intention) that all would be used. In the course of the next few weeks, he and his cowriters knocked out between 20 and 30 songs (I’m extrapolating from the “60 songs” figure bandied about in a few interviews). Half of the next few were spent on tour rehearsals. He then spent 53 days on tour, squeezing in additional cowrites, demo recording, studio tracking, and band selection, until a solid five weeks arose at the end to finalize the album. By my count, that gave him 81 days to develop an album from start to finish. Yes, it was rushed, and oddly sequenced, and the production was lacking in places, but it managed to be a solid effort.

Compare that to what he has now: 4/5 (or maybe even 5/5) of a band with a strong musical chemistry, a very good working/social relationship with some of his cowriters and his producer [even if I wonder if he might look elsewhere], 60/70 song ideas AND the remainder from the first recording session. And, not exactly immaterially, the opportunity to be in one place to supervise the melding of all those elements.

I just don’t see two or three months of solid writing and demoing, followed by two more of culling, tracking, and mastering, as that insurmountable for someone who has already had a trial by fire.

Of course things could change. Of course he’ll want to let ideas marinate. But the band is starting from a place orders of magnitude better than where he was last summer, so I have no concerns about their ability to produce something they’ll be able to put their names behind.

Sure, it’s great to hear him talk about his songwriting process (5:33) and how he wants to reach people and how he credits so many others for helping him learn and grow.

And even the constant “I either a) have my very own special dictionary that none of you mere mortals have ever seen or b) am just fucking with you because it amuses me” word choices can be endearing in small doses.

But sometimes…

Sometimes I am confronted with the fact that he would say with a straight face that Journey makes better music than Depeche Mode or the Cure.

I am off to go clutch my copy of Disintegration and sigh loudly.

But now I can do something.

It’s 99 cents. It is stunning. It supports translational research into brain tumors. You should buy it.

L., my traveling companion, had a preexisting foot injury (which I knew would limit us somewhat) and a newly present cold (which probably restricted us even more). So we decided to sleep in a bit on Saturday, and didn’t leave until about 12:30. Fortunately, the drive down involved minimal traffic for 95, and we entertained ourselves with new Neko Case and old Bruce Springsteen. We arrived at the hotel a few minutes after our earliest possible check-in, and after sorting ourselves out, decided to spend a bit of time exploring.

I’d been told, by several people, that I needed to check out The Cheese Shop, so that was our first stop. I thought it was delightful, and I say that as a former U. of M. student who cannot even think about Zingerman’s without swooning. I had a very yummy grilled cheese, and L. picked up one of the deli salads. I then did some shopping for local foodstuffs (genuine Virginia chocolate covered peanuts!) for gifts. We bopped around Merchant Square for a bit longer, but then L needed a nap to recharge before the show.

We were very close by to the center, and I probably would have tried to walk it were I on my own, but we ended up driving anyway. We got there early enough to get a decent parking spot, but not so early that the line wasn’t already wrapped around the center and down the stairs. Fortunately, they started letting people in shortly after we arrived, so we let the line snake past us and dropped in at the end. The steady and thorough check-in process gave everyone plenty of time to see the merch table; I wondered if that was intentional.

I also saw my first handmade Cook T-shirt on my way up the stairs…being sported by a 17-year-old college freshman. Heh. (It turned out to be a competition for a meet-and-greet, but still.) Anyway, then we finally got our wristbands, and went in for

The Show

I’m pretty sure we were in the Chesapeake room, which was actually a pretty decent space. They’d set the soundboard and other monitoring equipment essentially in the middle of this long and narrow room, separating the standing section from the chairs and tables in the back. (This ended up encouraging the older/family groups towards the back, with more of the college students at the front.) We found a seat for L, I picked up some snacks at the bar, and we settled in. (While standing in the line, I ended up talking to a local who had literally decided to show up because the performance was close to campus. He knew next to nothing about Cook; I did my part for the “long-time working musician/not yr mama’s Idol” narrative.)

Ryan Star’s set started pretty much right on time. I was drawn almost instantly to his cheerfully aggressive keyboard player, and enjoyed the set. I laughed when he started mocking one of the W&M students who was majoring in English (”Do you not know it?”), and laughed again when he threw a few lines of “Hot and Cold” into “Back of Your Car,” just because it was so ridiculous. After the set ended, I stopped by the table to pick up the CD and told him that I thought it was hilarious even though I normally can’t stand the Perry. He started pointing and sounded kind of excited. “I made you like Katy Perry!” Um, not so much. [grin] But then he started trying to remember all the words to the chorus, putting me in the unfortunate position of having to supply them. I must logically conclude that Ryan Star is evil.

Random Thing That Only I Noticed #1: I really want to know if the production team or the band is responsible for the interstitial music, because hearing both STP’s “Wicked Garden” and The Toadies’ “Possum Kingdom” in succession made me giggle.

L. and I decided to make a move forward once Cook’s set started, and ended up a few feet in front of the soundboard on Skib’s side. We got to press in a little bit further because the mother with the three-year-old finally realized that perhaps this was not the right place for a child without ear protection. I don’t understand the desire to bring pre-teens to rock shows, anyway, but if one insists on doing it, then perhaps some proactive parenting should be involved? Anyway.

As I said, we ended up on the Skib/Clement side, which was promising (I don’t get to see as much footage of their side in the vids), except for the really tall guy who ended up blocking my view half the time. Oh well.

RTTOIN #2: I don’t know what all the other venues were like, but from my perspective, the stage was about the size of a postage stamp. The Triscuit lights were so close to the equipment that I wondered if Peek would get a sunburn.

When the lights went down, we cheered. They only came slightly up for a lovely rendition of TWIK. I’m pretty sure he’s never performed it the same way twice. This version had a bit more reverb than I’d heard before. And as I’ve said, one of Cook’s underappreciated talents is his ability to use a risky technique to enhance the song, rather than overburdening it. So I was pleased.

Heroes is, I’ve admitted, not in my top tier on the album (I keep waiting for it to become more explicitly filial and it doesn’t), but they played the shit out of it live. Peek’s drumming was like a heartbeat, and the addition of the “AC” Les Paul underscored the family theme fairly well. Not to mention that it drove home one thing: Every single member of this band can SING (at least when they remember by the second chorus [cough]).

And then we got WOHWWS! I still crave Mystery Second Album with all the fiber of my being, so I was over the moon about it. Even the la-la-las. I did find it amusing that he didn’t introduce the song; he just went into it and hoped the audience would keep up.

I’m pretty sure this was the point where Cook broke for banter. He complimented the campus, and rightly so, but mentioned that the weather had led to puddles all over the courtyard, and that Clement’s shoes were just ruined. He promised to send an invoice, and then jumped into introducing Declaration, which he prounounced in a Spanish accent because he is ridiculous sometimes. Hee.

And then Lie. He’s still playing with it, somewhat. I particularly noticed the choice to bring in the unresolved note early, on “hear,” which I wasn’t necessarily sure was an improvement. But the minute that the band came in, I was gone. (And I have to admit that the lower harmony lines, courtesy of Mr. Skib, work so much better for me than the high ones, even though I do really like the studio version.)

He chose to introduce Kiss on the Neck by calling on the couples, and then telling them to visit the merch table instead of listening to the song, because he is a HUCKSTER of the first order. Heh. The reverb was a bit less subtle here, but worked very well. And at one point, he threw us a sidelong glance that was clearly saying “Plz screem nao” and many people happily obliged. (I started laughing, because I like seeing him play people.)

RTTOIN #3: Sometime during this song, I think, Tiemann jumped up on to Peek’s platform to do his thing. Clement had been doing his usual strides back and forth across the stage, but this time he looked like he was coming over and edging downstage into NT’s spot. But because NFT is NFT, he jumped down again and reclaimed it: “Step off, Curly, this mic is mine!”

Make Me seemed far more assured than I’ve heard before, although I still don’t think it’s the ideal arrangement for Cook’s own range. Twas still a fun time.

And then Mr. Sensitive. I got to see it live, y’all. And they TORE through it. I know I saw him beat his chest at one point. And I’m pretty sure this was when Clement and Tiemann did some intense simultaneous headbanging in the middle, so maybe that whole mic spot fight was all in my head. Wouldn’t be the first time. (This is probably the best point at which to mention that L., who knew nothing about the band beforehand, said they reminded her of “bands from the 70s” in terms of the energy they brought on stage. I had to take her word for it, since I wasn’t alive for most of the decade. But she definitely meant it as a compliment.)

Then Cook did his part for democracy by letting the audience vote between Little Lies and Hot for Teacher. I cheered for Little Lies, because a) I think his voice is amazing on it and b) HFT is not my favorite song by a long shot. But I also cheered half-heartedly, because I knew why he was asking. The audience was respectful and grooving, but a typical (in my view) East Coast crowd. Not tons of screaming. And I think he wanted more energy, and figured HFT was the best way to get it. He was right. He moved around, he leaned on Tiemann, he even crouched. So people got their votes’ worth.

At any rate, it would have been worth it just to get the following banter. I can’t say anything about it that would be better than just letting you see it:

And then, of course, they went into CBTM. And. They’re throwing everything they have at it, I will say that. The bass line, in particular, is far more muscular. But nobody’s defense of the song has managed to convince me that my interpretation isn’t the most valid: This is a song about a crappy, dysfunctional relationship that doesn’t merit the (unsustainable) promise of stasis. (The video, thankfully, offers a perspective that suggests something more self-recrimininating and slightly less crappy and dysfunctional, but not enough to make me want those crazy kids to stay together.) But plenty of people bopped along anyway. And hey, I thought “Hey There Delilah” was creepy and smarmtastic and that went on to be a massive hit, so I am clearly no bellwether.

Finally, the lights went down, the crowd stirred, and I was gratified because it looked like some of the college-age guys were the ones to start the encore clap. We all set the roar going, and then came Bar-ba-sol. No lights for the drum intro (which seemed shorter), but damn, 30 seconds in and I. just. didn’t. care. That last “I know just what I did to deserve this” hit me right in the chest. I was giddy.

And then he announced, with a fair degree of control but an even greater degree of gravity, that he was canceling some shows. And when he said he’d only done this once in his entire career, my heart stopped. He didn’t offer an explanation, and I was obviously in no position to ask him. But when it got to the point where he asked us to help him sing the chorus for Light On, it was something that I could do. And so…I did.

And there’s been a whole lot of not funny lately.

I really hope that stops. Now.

1)First, we have to talk about the hat.

I will preface this by saying a) I lived in Michigan for a while.   So while I am not personally a big fan of hats, and am bemused by the cultural prostration in front of Aretha Franklin’s, I accept their utility in the winter months. And b) I get that there were probably not too many opportunities for washing hair while jaunting around from base to base.  The most important thing, clearly, is the fact that he went to entertain the soldiers, so I was not expecting GQ ensembles.

None of this explains why we can no longer see Cook’s eyebrows.

To sum up:  Tuque.  Ur wearin it wrong.

2) Many of us were pleasantly surprised by the massive amounts of promotion that occurred during the first week of American Idol, and even more pleasantly surprised by the surge in sales for both the album and the single.  But even the video for Light On got a nice boost in iTunes sales, and has passed 2.3 million views on Youtube.  One could certainly attribute that to the rest of the promotion, and his continued VH1 spins.

But I not-so-secretly think that the big push came from many students returning to school, who really responded to the hidden message of the video: Mah brainz, let me show you them. You don’t have to put out for assholes.*

3) In a remarkably clever move, Cook’s management has decided to distract us from his inability to alter the space-time continuum by answering another question.^

We can haz platinum certification?

Yes, we can haz.

* Or nice guys, either. But still. Resonance!
^ I am aware that there were other factors involved than just physics. And my hope is that there will be some shifting later in the year so everyone has their brief history, and time.

With that in mind, I humbly suggest, Mr. Cook, that you get your manager to seed more questions.  Some of your fans have already come up with some thoughtful, insightful ones about your songwriting process, your stage performances, and your past educational/career decisions and their influence on you now.  You could certainly answer those.

Or, you could answer mine, which will be of no value to anyone, except me, since I will likely laugh.

1. Do you get some sort of Ambassador discount for your QuikTrip boosterism?  Have you asked for one?
2. If you were feeling ambivalent about cursing during your Orlando performance of Man in the Box, why didn’t you sing “pit?”  (For the record, I want to hear you sing “shit” every.single.time.  [Maybe even in songs for which that isn't an original lyric.]  But you do have options.)
3. If David Fincher finally lost his mind and mounted Fight Club as a Broadway musical, would you audition?
4. How often, in high school and college, did friends/acquaintances/fraternity brothers suggest that you “cowboy up, Cook?”  How often did you punch them in the arm for doing so?
5. Would you ever consider getting this for Dublin for use while on tour?

Welcome back to the grind, kid.   Getting tour dates at some point would be swell.