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David Cook's fans will brave lightning, thunder, hail and rain for his shows, and that's just what happened at a Saturday night show at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon.

The seventh-season "American Idol" winner last played the Inland region for a New Year's Eve celebration at Pechanga Casino in Temecula.

Tracy Runco traveled from Michigan to see Cook for the 46th show

"I've been to a few of these things. He's a down-to-earth, good person," Runco said. "His music seems to grab you. I've never seen anybody 46 times. His music gets to my heart and soul. He's just a really good guy."

Cook had a few surprises in store Saturday, including two songs that will be on his new album -- "You and I" and "Make Believe."

He also brought a friend from "American Idol," Carly Smithson of We Are the Fallen, who belted out "Barracuda" while Cook and the band played along.

Donald and Jennie Bigbie, of Riverside, last saw Cook at the Pechanga show and enjoyed it so much, they said they had to come back for more.

"I love him," Jennie Bigbie said. "He's gorgeous, talented and very good live."

Catherine Hale, of Santa Barbara, has seen him 15 times.

She feels he does more than simply sing.

"He inhabits the song. He's not singing about it, acting it. He feels it, and you feel it too," Hale said.

Michelle Lotz, of Aliso Viejo, has seen Cook more than a dozen times.

First and foremost, it's the music," she said, explaining why she keeps coming back. "I think he's just a really cool person. He's comfortable in his skin and he's so gracious to his fans. It's more than a show; it's like a family reunion."

Cook's drummer, Kyle Peek, had one of his biggest fans in the audience, his dad, Scott. Kyle Peek, of La Mirada, has been playing with the band for more than a year now.

"He's been playing since he was 7," Scott Peek said. "He loves it."

Maddy Olivia came from Santa Clarita for the show.

"He has very loyal fans, and he's really good to them," Olivia said. "They're an eclectic group, from teeny boppers to the older crowd."

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

MidWest Kings returns to its roots after a hiatus

BY G.K. HIZER

It's no secret to most local music fans why MidWest Kings went on hiatus and disappeared from the local music landscape. After roughly eight years together and a couple of variations in the line-up, principal members Andy Skib and Neal Tiemann got the call, and they couldn't turn it down. After David Cook won American Idol and started putting his touring band together, he immediately tapped the friends who had asked him to join their band after the dissolution of Axium.

Now, two years and a world tour later, Skib and Tiemann are returning with the latest incarnation of Midwest Kings and a completely different perspective

"We never officially said we were going to stop," singer/guitarist Andy Skib said. "Neal and I made ... Well, not really a pact, but maybe just realized this will be the fun release for us--when we have time and because we can, not because we feel like we have to. I think it will be fun and healthy for us to go back to MidWest Kings right now."

Appropriately enough, the first (and for the moment, only) MWK show on the calendar is a performance at Flytrap Music Hall Thursday, Feb. 18.

And for those who are wondering, the lineup will consist of Skib and Tiemann, accompanied by drummer Kyle Peek and bassist Joey Clement, both of which played in David Cook's band.

For the potential set list, Skib indicated that the group will play roughly an hour, pulling from each of the band's releases. There will probably only be one or two songs drawn from the first CD, as he and Tiemann want to keep things fresh and moving forward. After all, it's been nearly a decade since MidWest Kings played its first gig.

"I remember our first show was at the Full Moon in probably 2000 or 2001," Skib said. "I had another band, Brookside (his first project, with guitarist Miles Ralston) that was playing at Full Moon, and we were friends with Tony Henry, who booked us there. He had the idea to put both bands on back-to-back. After that one show with both bands, I pretty much did just MidWest Kings, for the most part, and that was almost 10 years ago."

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Rocker DAVID COOK's promotional tour of the U.K. has started off badly - his beloved Gibson guitar has been damaged in transit.

The American Idol star arrived in London from the U.S. on Tuesday after noon (02Mar10), but he was disappointed to discover his instrument had no t made it across the Atlantic in one piece.

In a post on his Twitter.com page, Cook writes, "A busted guitar, courtesy of the airline. Flowers would have been a better welcome to England gift, but beggars can't be choosers.

"R.I.P - tobacco-burst Gibson 335 from the Idol tour. Your (sic) were the voice of your generation."