There’s never just one story unfolding. Sea.Hear.Now festival was a tidal wave of headliners and highlights, but it also marked the start of something wild. A trifecta of Reignwolf shows resulted in over four hours of scorching rock – roughly forty-eight total songs, including an impressive new one named “Champion” that happened only in New York. With many deep cuts in cool sequences, it was a seemingly unprecedented run, though it’s tough to track what’s going on when the wolf is on the road. You’ll seldom find fan-uploaded setlists online because there are never any taped to the stage. Jordan Cook doesn’t plan setlists. He just gets up there with his wide-eyed let’s see what happens expression and goes off. When I lament what a challenge it is to document what he’s doing, he often replies, “Perfect.” I once thought he was just trying to keep fans on our toes, but I’ve come to believe it’s more about staying on his own toes; keeping himself in the dark about what kind of show might ensue. Our Saturday Sea.Hear.Now recap notes how he’d instantly bloodied up his arm (even he wasn’t sure how). What I didn’t mention were some Reignwolf things one just expects now: like when he rages on drums and guitar simultaneously. I was tied up in mini research projects like “Mandolin Song” – an oldie that conjures desert scenes with its searing movement – for which Cook switches to electric mandolin. The guitar-driven “C’Mon C’Mon,” a clean canvas for his sinister soloing, also hit the shore, although it hadn’t been played since Reignwolf toured with Black Sabbath in 2014. That’s Cook for you: his 2019 album, Hear Me Out, is filled with highly-streamed songs that would have had more attendees chanting along, and most bands begin fest sets with big hits to woo the newcomers. Reignwolf had other plans. His nine-song Sea.Hear.Now set only featured two songs from his LP (“Over and Over” and “Keeper”). The rest was a rush of the unexpected.
9/18 [3:14pm–4:05pm] Reignwolf at Sea.Hear.Now Festival
- “Lonely Sunday”
- “In The Dark” [tease] >
- “C’Mon C’Mon” [first time since 2014]
- “Over and Over”
- “Palms to the Sky”
- “Old Man” [fan request]
- “Monster”
- “Keeper”
- “Mandolin Song”
- “Are You Satisfied?” [with extended outro]
Reignwolf at Sea.Hear.Now
Reignwolf at Sea.Hear.Now
Reignwolf at Sea.Hear.Now
More surprises surfaced in Reignwolf’s sold-out late show in Asbury Park. A loud and long dose of his rich blues-grunge sound took shape in front of Tillie’s grin within The Wonder Bar. The glowing hand-drawn wolf on his kick drum looked like a mirage after the sprint through hot sand into the hotter bar. Due to 21+ rules, one generous young fan named Elliott wasn’t permitted to sit inside. Just for him, the wolf ended up yanking his cords to their limit to exit the side door while rocking at full volume. “So I broke my guitar today,” Cook explained, “and this seventeen-year-old kid shows up with his grandfather’s guitar. He’s at that window right there. He’s waiting because he couldn’t get in. Thank you. Entrusting Reignwolf with his grandfather’s guitar, after breaking my guitar. Thank you. It says Jimmy Lee on this so we’re doing this for the boy out here and Jimmy Lee. Is that your grandfather? Yeah? Alright! Well this one’s for Jimmy Lee. Do you hear that?” he asked the room happily as he dug into its strings. “That’s what I’ve been looking for right there.” Cook quietly expressed his gratitude by giving Elliott one of his own guitars after the performance. Even without that sweet backstory, you could tell the sold-out crowd at The Wonder Bar was getting spoiled. You know it’s going to get insane if “Neighbors” growls to life as the second song of the night. And a fan-requested “In The Dark” detonated right in the middle of the set. Another rare highlight (given its slower tempo) was Reignwolf’s elegant cover of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” which placed all the focus on his warm vocal timbre. And still, with all those thrills, Cook looked skeptical when he asked, “What was your favorite thing at the festival today?” and The Wonder Bar quickly shouted back, “You!”
9/18 [11:56pm–1:21am] Reignwolf at The Wonder Bar
- “Lonely Sunday”
- “Neighbors”
- “This is the Time”
- “Mandolin Song”
- “Son of a Gun”
- “Cabin Fever”
- “Monster”
- “Hardcore”
- “In The Dark” [fan request]
- “Black and Red”
- “Over and Over”
- “Jealous Guy” [John Lennon cover] >
- “C’Mon, C’Mon”
- “Wanna Don’t Wanna”
- “Fools Gold”
- “Bicycle”
- “Are You Satisfied?” [with extended outro]
Reignwolf on The Wonder Bar’s marquee
There were a few constants between those two NJ shows on Saturday and the finale in NY that Thursday. All three performances began with a fast-burning “Lonely Sunday,” a shift from his usual openers back in 2019 (“Over and Over” and “I Want You”). The mic cord ended up coiled around Cook’s neck like a snake as he produced his one-of-a-kind guitar tones. Drummer Joseph Braley and bassist David ‘Stitch’ Rapaport stayed tightly in sync as Cook sank into his dynamic grooves. And each “Are You Satisfied?” included an extended outro of savage guitar work; could it be called an “Afflatus”? His title for untethered guitar inspiration may apply here; each instance was a varied explosion of emotive soloing. This special post-Satisfied outro extended the hit by 3+ minutes at Sea.Hear.Now, 2+ minutes at The Wonder Bar, and 3+ minutes at Brooklyn Bowl – the last of which occurred while Cook was lying on his back at the edge of the stage. And man, I’m used to screwing up my pocket bootlegs by screaming for Reignwolf, but something interesting happened in Brooklyn. I jumped when I first listened to that recording, because it contains some terrifying howls and squeals that drowned out my own. Compulsive cheering is a given for this band, but these were frantic horror-style shrieks. The added layer of audio stuck with me, as did Cook’s reaction after the show, when he mentioned how crazy it was that “New York was moshing to songs like ‘Keeper.’” His observation made me laugh each time I found a new Brooklyn Bowl bruise. The stage’s metal edge was winning the fight as the audience kept pushing up closer, their glowing phones aloft and recording.
Reignwolf at Brooklyn Bowl
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9/23 [9:29pm–11:18pm] Reignwolf at Brooklyn Bowl
- “Lonely Sunday”
- “C’Mon, C’Mon”
- “Over and Over”
- “Black and Red”
- “Alligator”
- “Hardcore”
- “Monster” >
- “Keeper”
- “Mandolin Song”
- “The Chain” [Fleetwood Mac cover]
- “Electric Love”
- “Dead of Night”
- “Palms to the Sky”
- “Cabin Fever”
- “Wanna Don’t Wanna”
- “Are You Satisfied?” [with extended outro]
Encore:
- “Fools Gold”
- “This is the Time”
- “Bicycle”
- “Champion”
- “In The Dark”
“Brooklyn! Thank you for showing up tonight. What have you all been up to lately? You all been alright? Yeah, we got a call about this show…” Cook trailed off mysteriously. “And…ain’t nothing stopping the Wolf Man from coming over to see you.” Screaming morphed into familiar words as the crowd sang along to vicious cuts of “Over and Over” and “Black and Red.” He paused to say, “You don’t have to be shy. You can get together,” prompting even more dancing during an addictive “Alligator” and a chilling “Hardcore.” The solo-laden “Monster” that ran over five minutes, amazingly, flowed directly into that mosh-triggering “Keeper.” “Has anybody never been to a Reignwolf show before?” Cook surveyed all the raised palms in the air. Many of those hands belonged to those who were otherwise frozen in place with dazed and starstruck gazes. “And out of all nights, you took tonight as the night.” Then, his electric mandolin came out for a magical cut of “Mandolin Song,” and with that beautiful instrument in hand, Reignwolf carried out a promise that had been made back at The Wonder Bar. Something neat about Jordan Cook’s technical prowess is that it’s not just fans like me trekking out to see him in action. Reignwolf has a following of gear heads and noise enthusiasts along for the how-does-he-do-it ride too. And one of them had packed well for the NJ/NY shows. “Was anybody at the show where the guy brought the fifty-foot cable?” Cook asked Brooklyn Bowl. “He showed up tonight with this keytar thing, and he made a request…Yeah, he brought a keytar; I’m not kidding. He showed up at soundcheck; brought a keytar. Oh, he’s going to find it? I told him to be ready at all times. This guy’s name is Dolphin.” Cook and Dolphin then played a rad mandolin/keytar version of “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac.
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“I had a dream about this moment actually. This very moment that’s about to happen right now. I’m not kidding you. I’m not kidding you. I know people say that all the time maybe, but…yeah. I’ve got a couple things in mind here,” Cook said before a passionate “Electric Love.” When he pulled out a chrome slide, my pulse raced with the realization that we were getting “Dead of Night,” and its eerie licks unraveled with a tone of perfect darkness. “Nobody’s getting tired yet, are they?” he asked next. “My friend Justin showed up with this bass tonight. I just realized it has no strap pin right here. So there’s no strap for tonight, alright? We haven’t done this with a bass guitar for a long time, but since it’s here…” Watching Cook play bass was a blast and the outcome was an extra-heavy “Palms to the Sky.” Time slowed down for an intricate “Cabin Fever,” a “Wanna Don’t Wanna” that had Brooklyn shouting loudly, and that fiery “Are You Satisfied?” Floored by the blues-steeped intensity and the wealth of long, intricate guitar solos throughout Reignwolf’s Brooklyn Bowl performance, I wasn’t anticipating an encore. But could he possibly say no to New York? The layers of howling demanding his return sounded like wrestling match videos queued up simultaneously: just visceral human chaos. So Reignwolf came back, right as the crowd made their request. Brooklyn’s burst of ragged “HEY, EY-ey-EY”s to the tune of the “Fools Gold” riff seemed to summon the track. “Now this one, I’ve been waiting for, right here. Keep on going,” Reignwolf urged. “Come on!” And the “HEY”s continued. The band kicked off right in time, and as it all crescendoed, Cook held out his mic to let Brooklyn Bowl lead. After “This is the Time” and an exciting “Bicycle,” Cook brought the ultimate twist to New York. Have you ever seen a band debut a song during an encore? And not a live debut of something the band has released…I mean the actual unveiling of a song. I don’t think I’ve witnessed this before, but that’s what went down at Brooklyn Bowl. “Alright, so, I’m gonna tell you something really quickly. I don’t want to go home yet. So, I haven’t told the band yet, but I’ve been working on a couple songs. And I would like to try one for the first time.” Cook said “sorry” to Stitch and Jo with a mischievous smile.
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Jumping right in, the wolf started beatboxing a few bars so that Braley could get it going on the drums. “Champion” then made its debut in New York, a bluesy banger built on snarling guitar that really sticks in your head. Cook delivered its hyper-aware lyrics with a secretive vibe. “I’ve been high baby, I’ve been low / I watch my back wherever I go / I’ve gotta be careful / I’ve gotta be careful / I said, panic attack, there’s no control / They put me in the back of a police car / Gotta be careful, gotta be careful.” Tying back to the lyrical theme of water, as Cook and I once discussed while he was touring with The Who, “Champion” goes on with, “And I surrender, baby, to your intention / I’ll swim the river, baby, and the ocean / So let me be your, be your champion / Let me be your champion.” The title of champion was easily earned, especially as Reignwolf threw down the grand finale: a supercharged “In The Dark” that ran for five and a half scintillating minutes. As Wölf Week came to an end, Reignwolf looked as reluctant to depart as the rest of us. Pulling his toque back into place and waving, he said, “New York, Reignwolf loves you. ‘Til next time, goodnight. Thank you very much. We’ll see you all again soon. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” Seeing the band walk away is the hardest moment of the best concerts, but Cook has a way of making fans feel like they each got their own unique experience. It’s always the case that some people become part of the performance, and now, I have some oddly specific tips for when it happens to you. Have a lesser-played request ready in case Reignwolf suddenly asks what you want to hear. He does that sometimes. You’ll likely get what you want. Be sure to keep the mic steady if you get to hold it for “Bicycle.” And actively commit all the details to memory, even if you’re hypnotized by the history transpiring before you.
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Reignwolf at Brooklyn Bowl
Article: Olivia Isenhart
Cover/Sea.Hear.Now [NJ] Photos: Pancakes & Whiskey
Brooklyn Bowl [NY] Photos: Dutch Doscher
