{Des Moines Register Daughtry at HOB }

Credit Desmoinesregister.com



Nothing inspires mass celebrity worship these days quite like the reality-TV show "American Idol." Probably no better evidence in the nation was on display Monday night than at a small nightclub in downtown Des Moines.

The scene was a capacity concert at the House of Bricks, where all 275 tickets sold within two minutes.

The bald and brawny singer-guitarist responsible for this mania was Chris Daughtry, last year's fourth-place finisher on "American Idol" who has since been all but anointed the true winner, according to record and ticket buyers. His debut album, "Daughtry," has sold more than 1 million copies, and this current club tour is selling out coast to coast.

He was greeted with a blaze of camera flashes when he took the stage at 9:30 Monday night shrouded in a black hoodie. He began with falsetto coos and steadily built intensity until he was showing off his strong vibrato.

Yes, Daughtry proved Monday that - whatever you think of his sensitive-rock middle ground - his supple voice is no TV trick, and he can front a band with charisma to spare through a tight, 50-minute club set.

The acoustic cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man" was a nice touch, too - not quite the pandering that, say, "Tiny Dancer" would have been.

"Over You" cued the first robust audience singalong of the night. Daughtry credited his sole encore tune, "Home," as "responsible for getting me a record deal."

Lori Huss of Altoona was enthralled, and even got to touch her idol as he walked back onstage for the encore. Long before Daughtry took the stage, she pulled out a red bra and a pair of white panties that were tucked inside her coat - precious items she brought to toss onstage at the feet of the "Idol" alum. On the panties she had scrawled in permanent black marker the words "Pick me" as well as her phone number.

"Chris is my boyfriend, but he don't know it," Huss said with a huge grin.

There also was local significance Monday night at the House of Bricks: It was the first concert in Des Moines since the city established an approval process for music venues to allow some fans younger than 21, the legal drinking age, to remain in the clubs until 11:30 p.m. - an extension of the previous curfew of 9 p.m.

The under-21 crowd was issued red, white and blue wristbands, distinct from the yellow wristbands of imbibing fans.

The issue of all-ages concerts erupted last year after Des Moines police stepped up enforcement of the curfew at bars that stage bands.

Public debate before the City Council, as well as input from the Des Moines Live Music Commission, an advisory body to the city, has resulted in an approval process in which the police can issue a certificate of designated music venue.

The House of Bricks is the first, and so far only, such venue in the city; its certificate was approved Friday and must be renewed annually.

"I'm just being really strict about it," Sam Summers said of the new procedure.

Summers was the promoter of Monday's concert and is a member of the city's music commission.

Capacity crowds are not an anomaly at the House of Bricks, but usually it's at the hands of a younger metalhead or emo throng.

"It's a pretty-girl thing," was how House of Bricks co-owner J.C. Wilson characterized Monday night's older, more professional and TV-based crowd of "Idol" addicts.

"Do we need to explain?" asked Melissa Allen, 27, who trekked with two of her friends all the way from Peoria, Ill., and considers Daughtry's appeal to be self-evident: "Because he's hot and his CD rocks - and I mostly listen to country music."

"I joked with all of our husbands that there would be three broken marriages when we get home," added one of Allen's friends, Mary Ankenbauer.

It was all the easier for Daughtry to impress considering he was preceded by a pair of blander rock bands. Cinder Road took the stage first and cranked out earnest '80s rock focused on big choruses, capped by a cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You."

The other warm-up band was Eve to Adam, from New York, which preferred a harder-edged sound and slightly more up-to-date influences - a 1990s churn in the vicinity of Godsmack or Creed.

Eve to Adam might have better suited Natasha Stadnick, 20, of Newton, a hard-rock fan who won tickets through a local radio station as well as a meet-and-greet with Daughtry.

Before the concert she battled the "American Idol" heartthrob head-to-head in the video game "Guitar Hero," but wasn't the type to go weak in the knees at the experience.

"It was just something out of the blue," Stadnick said matter-of-factly of her brush with "Idol" greatness.

She didn't even take the opportunity to pass along any of her intimate apparel to the rocker.