After making a name for himself rocking "American Idol" viewers, James Durbin is taking it to the people.
On the road for the current "Idol" tour - which kicked off last week in West Valley City, Utah - Durbin is delivering the goods once again, if the YouTube videos popping up from the first few shows are any indication.
The top 11 contestants make up the stage show, which hits more than 40 cities across North America between now and September.
Looks like James is performing songs by Muse and Guns N' Roses in his short set, in addition to his duties joining other Idol singers for medleys and various tracks.
Durbin created a buzz in the rock community after being the first Idol contestant to embrace hard rock and heavy metal on the reality show contest. From his opening week cover of Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Coming" to having Zakk Wylde join him for a Sammy Hagar tune... and then actually joining Priest for the series' finale, Durbin grew stronger throughout the program while stealing every episode with his voice and command of the stage.
James Durbin – Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns N' Roses cover) (Everett, WA, July 8, 2011):
James Durbin – Uprising (Muse cover) (Everett, WA, July 8, 2011):
He's the reason I watched AI for the first time. Caught a clip of him on Youtube, and then he gets voted off. Kid has talent. Hope he's able to get through all the bullshit of AI, and get a great career going. Cause he certainly can sing.
loved james from first audition positive story of a kid with a deep soul bought my familys tickets to see james in atlanta today only reason, to see JAMES DURBIN will buy anything he puts out love ya james u should have won!!!
James is an AMAZING talent, and I pray he keeps rockin' the stages post idol. Such a performer, such a voice. I know lots of non-metal fans, that are now Giving Metal A Chance!! \m/
James Durbin is fantastic. I've been catching some of his performances on the internet and I can't believe how good this kid is. He is definitely the best thing to ever come off that lame TV show. I've never seen a performer this good on that show before, maybe they finally changed it for the better, I'll have to give the show a try next year again. I stopped watching years ago because everyone to come out of that show so far has sucked, until now.
