I had the pleasure of catching music 'icon' Dewey Cox and his band The Hard Walkers Wednesday night at The Knitting Factory club in Lower Manhattan. Dewey of course, is John C. Reilly's on screen alter-ego in the 'Behind The Music' spoof "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" which hits theaters this weekend. All I can say is, Reilly is a genuine talent. Seriously, Dewey Cox Rox!!

If you don't believe me, check out the clips from the concert that are all over YouTube already. I mean, the movie may be a send up of "Walk the Line" and "Ray" but the music is no joke. Reilly co-wrote most of the songs and sings/plays guitar on all of them, and some are so catchy you'll need therapy to get them out of your head.

He also stayed in character throughout the nearly 90-minute show. The story behind the concert tour is that it's basically a promotion for the movie. While he's on stage, Reilly-as-Dewey explains that he's been transported to the present day via a 'wormhole' (his words) in a younger incarnation of himself to perform all his classics from his several decades as a music icon who inspired people like Muddy Waters and had his music ripped off by the likes of Robert Dylan (again, his words).

One of the highlights from the show was "Let's Duet" which Reilly, er, Dewey, sang with co-star Kristin Wiig from "Saturday Night Live" filling in for Jenna Fischer (Kristin is also Dewey's first wife in the movie). Wiig has a nice voice but she seemed a bit nervous at first singing in front of an audience, which is weird considering she works on Saturday Night LIVE. But she seemed to get over it quickly and did a great job on the song, which is hysterical.

But nothing, I mean nothing, in the show topped "Let Me Hold You (Little Man)." If you haven't seen the movie, well, then some of Dewey's songs won't be quite as entertaining because you can't picture the scenes they're in. But 'Little Man' is a scream whether you've seen the picture or not. The crowd was in tears from laughing at this absolutely dead-perfect parody of one of those take-myself-so-serious-it-hurts acoustic songs that were all the rage in the early 70s. Only Reilly's song has some of the most politically-incorrect lyrics you will ever hear.

Dewey tossed numerous guitar picks into the crowd during the show and even gave one lucky woman who was into 'memorabilia' a gift she'll never forget.

Among the Cox 'classics' the set list also included a few sweet covers: "Rehab" from Amy Winehouse, "Shattered" from The Rolling Stones and the most inspired choice, "Sabotage" from The Beastie Boys.

If Sony was smart, they'd have the 'Cox Across America' tour go worldwide. Once word spreads about Reilly's on stage prowess, the crowds will be lining up to score tickets to see Cox Rox. Any doubters should have been at The Knitting Factory last night, where the line of folks hoping to get into the club stretched down the block.

Check out video from Dewey's other concert stops.

And here's the link to Jeffrey & Alison's review of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"