Two years ago, David Cook accompanied his brother to an audition for the TV series "American Idol." It turned out they liked David better, and he wound up winning the 2008 competition. Tuesday night, Cook performed in a sold-out concert at the Pageant, displaying the vocal chops, the rocker's heart and the personable charm that led so many people to vote for him on "Idol."

Cook led his workmanlike five-piece band through a set of tough, anthemic rock songs with a couple of ballads dropped in here and there.

The show opened with his hit "Heroes," a song he last performed in St. Louis at the 2009 All-Star Game. (Interestingly enough, Irish rock band the Script, which played second on the three-act bill, had finished its set with a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes," an entirely different song.) At every quiet moment before, during or after the song, the audience filled up space with spirited screams. Clearly, Cook is adored.

Just as clearly, he loves basking in the enthusiasm of his fans.

As the show went on, Cook prowled the stage, making sure to pay attention to the crowd upstairs in the balcony and on all sides of the room. In fact, during the song "Declaration," Cook unexpectedly left the stage, ran through the crowd to the back of the hall and upstairs, singing the final part of the song surrounded by enthralled supporters.

Cook sang about two-thirds of the songs from his self-titled album released last year, and the crowd sang along to "Light On," "Mr. Sensitive" and especially "Come Back to Me," during which Cook gave the audience full singing duties for more than a minute while he watched from the stage.

He also pulled out a surprise cover of the Cutting Crew hit "(I Just) Died in Your Arms," albeit rocked up considerably harder than the original. And, for his first encore, Cook announced his decision to debut a brand new song, "Make Believe," which, as he said, "You may or may not ever hear again." Not surprisingly, the crowd loved it as much as their favorites from his album.

Green River Ordinance and the Script opened the show and received almost as much support from the crowd as the headliner. Cook made special note more than once to thank them for warming up his fans.