Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2007 > December > 10 > Entry
John C. Reilly is Dewey Cox
With a large contingent of media and Austin music and film scene folks milling about the downstairs bar at Stubb’s, about 250 more folks who had seen a sneak preview of the film earlier in the evening streamed in to the club, bringing the crowd to around 350. The packed house was buzzing with anticipation as the lights came down and Cox’s band ran onto the stage for the first few bars, followed by the man of the hour.
Dressed in tight black pants and jacket, red shirt and matching silk scarf, Cox took the stage with an Elvis-like swagger and a billowing pompadour that would have made Roy Orbison blush. Cox tore through a rousing set of mostly originals from the movie’s soundtrack, backed ably by a professional group of musicians that swung and rocked with such authenticity that you could easily imagine them being the house band at the Continental Club. The rock-star-for-a-week played a high-energy set which he interspersed with ridiculously hilarious banter, full of double-entendre jokes that played off of the singer’s surname.
Introducing the song, ‘Dear Mr. President,’ Cox took aim at the former Texas governor currently residing in the White House, while acknowledging that had he been a legal resident of Texas, he would have gladly voted for that ‘Kinky Jew’ who ran for governor last time. The aspersing of Bush and the nod to Kinky Friedman brought a wild cheer from the audience, who hung on the singer’s every tawdry and ridiculous word. At one point, Cox made reference to his having escaped rehab four times, and said he’d like to see the obese David Crosby try and hop a fence. He then broke into a spot-on cover of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ that stunned and awed the crowd. Cox introduced another song as one stolen from him by J.J. Cale who subsequently had it stolen by Eric Clapton. That white lie led to an up-tempo version of ‘Cocaine.’ The night’s performance was pure brilliance, and highlighted some of the film’s best songs, with their delicious dichotomy of quality songwriting and absurd lyrics leaving the audience stomping their feet and holding their sides. Following the hour-long set, Cox left the stage but had only taken a few steps off before rushing back on shirtless for a two-song encore.
The night was one of the most entertaining and bewildering I have ever witnessed in an Austin club, and it was probably my second-favorite music concert of the entire year. But beyond the music, the night was about watching one of America’s greatest character actors commit with all of his being to the Dewey Cox character. As Reilly mentioned to me (in an interview that will run later), it is fun getting to step into the skin of a rock star, and there was no denying that Reilly was having as much fun on stage as any performer I have seen in years. Judging by the reaction of the packed house, which included legendary ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons and screenwriter Anne Rapp, the fans had as much fun as the star they came to celebrate.
As I stood by the side of the stage chatting with the movie’s affable director Jake Kasdan, I just kept shaking my head in amazement and saying, “What a legend. What a freaking legend. This is genius!” There was only one man who could pull off this type of performance as well as the role in the movie, and I congratulated Kasdan for having the foresight to realize that man was John C. Reilly. Excuse me, Dewey Cox.
For myriad Dewey Cox links, click here.
‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’ opens in Austin on Dec. 21.
Check out a YouTube clip of Cox playing his midget protest song, ‘Let Me Hold You (Little Man),’ at Stubb’s last Friday.
And the following night in Nashville covering Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab.’
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Music
Comments
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By Bre
December 10, 2007 3:41 PM | Link to this
I’m beyond sad that I was not there to witness this. John C. Reilly is truly one of my heroes.
By Stan
December 10, 2007 4:32 PM | Link to this
Sounds lame, especially that it is a parody of Johny Cash, you do not mess with the man in black. Also, if the crowd was made up of local media and film types, I am glad I missed it. How can anyone hear over the music when all these people tend to talk over any live music?
By Spaz
December 10, 2007 5:02 PM | Link to this
Stan sux. The movie is much more than a Johnny Cash parody.
By keith
December 13, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
dewey/ john c. - please come back for sxsw. us “non-in crowd” folks want a better chance to see you live. rock on………the man in black would smirk i bet in a most fun way, stan.
By Lacey
December 20, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
Odam, I’m here to clamor for the interview. don’t leave me hanging!