SHOW REVIEW: Evan J. Thomas covered the rock band Joyous Wolf on Wednesday June 23, Check out his review of the show, his bad ass photos and the interview he did with Nick and Blake for the Bad Ass Podcast - CHECK IT ALL OUT HERE

6/26/2021

PHOTOS & INTERVIEW BELOW

On The Verge Of Greatness…
By: Evan J. Thomas

After 17+ months of dealing with a global pandemic with numerous concerts and festivals cancelled on my schedule I was covering my first Chicago area show on Wednesday night and with great luck it was with one of my favorite bands over the past few years, rock band Joyous Wolf hailing from Orange County, California.

Joyous Wolf features vocalist Nick Reese, guitarist Blake Allard, bassist Greg Braccio and drummer Robert Sodaro. The band took this headlining gig while finishing up a run touring and opening up for Dirty Honey that started on June 3.

Four Chicago area bands opened up the evening and one really stood out to me. That band being Atomic Love who had a Soundgarden like sound to them as their vocalist sounded a lot like the late Chris Cornell and he had a very similar look on stage. They were my favorite of the local openers.

Joyous Wolf took the stage around 10pm for their 75 minute set. I had the opportunity to sit and talk with Nick and Blake prior to the show for my Bad Ass Podcast and the guys had revealed that this set would feature about 80 percent NEW music. For those people that know me I obsess over finding new music. For me it’s like opening up a new present on Christmas Morning each time I hear a song for the first time and I get to play it on my radio show. Tonight’s new music set list did not disappoint.

Joyous Wolf kicked the show off with “Fearless” while then filtering in their most popular songs “Quiet Heart” and “Mother Rebel” off of their 2019 debut EP “Place in Time”. Reese at times during the set was trying to coax the masses to come to the front of the stage to see a rock show and most did oblige.

Reese is a very active frontman on stage especially when he is doing flips, cartwheels and stage jumping into the crowd to then do more flips. Not many people let alone singers can pull off his daring and jaw dropping antics. I do have to say after seeing Joyous Wolf numerous times I enjoy it when Reese gives a stare down and scowl to a specific member of the crowd, lucky for me I wasn’t his target. He seems to pull more energy and motivation out of that interaction.

Two of the new songs really stood out to me, the first being “Mechanic” and the other finishing off the set “Talk To Me”, both are amazing tracks. Reese's voice has an incredible range that is rare. During my pre show interview it was revealed that the band is working on a new full length album. Unfortunately the guys were hush hush on the time frame of releasing singles and the album, But I get it… as the band Stillwater said to journalist William Miller in the movie “Almost Famous” stating that “he is the enemy”.

Joyous Wolf has experienced a meteoric rise in the past few years opening up for bands like Deep Purple, Fozzy, Buckcherry and as stated before, finishing up this run with Dirty Honey. They have also been on several festival lineups and have some this summer and fall including Upheaval Festival, Welcome To Rockville, Louder Than Life and then the stacked 2022 festivals Hellfest and Tons of Rock over seas. With new music coming out, a top notch social media presence that is led by Reese, mark my words... Joyous Wolf will be a band you’ll wish you saw them now before they blow up in the coming years, they are on the verge of greatness. I just hope I haven’t “Said Too Much”.