Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, has finally released his solo album. He wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, did all the vocals. I think he even recorded it himself. He's not the virtuoso that his father was, but that doesn't matter. He's a damn good musician in his own right. The music is pretty damn good, too. The song about his father, Distance, is particularly poignant.
Have you guys heard it? What do you think?
Mammoth WVH
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Zarathustra
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Obi-Wan Nihilo
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I've only heard a couple of tracks from it, and I wasn't terribly impressed. I need a long car ride so I can stream the entire album.
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StevieG
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Had a listen. It has an old school rock feel to it - it could be quite at home in the 90s. I could get on board with it! This album feels quite straight-forward in terms of songs - guitar intro, bring the other instruments in, start the verse, chorus etc. I reckon it would be fun to play some of those riffs.
It's impressive that he recorded the whole thing himself. Respect for that. I'd be interested how his 2nd album develops musically, assuming that's on the cards. This seems like a reasonably safe album.
It's impressive that he recorded the whole thing himself. Respect for that. I'd be interested how his 2nd album develops musically, assuming that's on the cards. This seems like a reasonably safe album.
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Cord Hurn
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Mammoth WVH
August 29, 2021
Tucson, Arizona
I was debating whether or not to wear a mask for this concert, when the issue was decided for me. Mammoth WVH made an announcement that they required all their concertgoers to wear masks when not eating or drinking, and that ticketholders must further provide proof of either being fully vaccinated or having gotten a negative test result for coronavirus within the previous 72 hours. For anyone who had purchased a ticket who didn't like those requirements, a full refund was offered. This message came to me via an email from Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster would refund all the electronic purchases, and physical ticket purchases would be refunded by the venue, in this case an historic place in downtown Tucson called the Rialto Theatre.
The Rialto is a place with a concrete floor slanting down towards a wooden stage raised about 4 1/2 feet off of the floor, with a balcony and what looks like dark foam padding on the walls. When I first went there to see a concert in early 2000 (a blues-rock Native American family band called Indigenous), there wasn't any air conditioning, and the place often needed it (I recall a Tragically Hip concert there in October 200 that was so warm and humid that water vapor could be seen floating through the air among band members, in the beams of bright white stage lights). The general feel of the Rialto is that of visiting an old vaudeville venue, plus the slanted floor.
Now, to the concert itself: the show was due to start at 8 PM, but Wolfgang and his band didn't make an appearance until 8:30. He had with him two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer, and was changing guitars every couple of songs. At one point, he held up a small guitar and said something like, "Look at this: Wolfgang holding a Wolfgang," as he twitched his eyebrows slightly upward.
His voice sounded smooth, and he had backing vocal help from the bassist and one of the guitar players (the one with the long beard). Wolf had a close-shaved beard and mustache, looked about 30 pounds overweight, and kept a serious expression on his face about 99% of the time. He explained that they had been opening for Guns 'n Roses for most of their shows, and that this uncommon solo show gave them a chance to play more songs from the Mammoth WVH album. Introducing one song (I forget which one; despite my preparing for this show by listening to the album about ten times, I found that a lot of the songs sounded alike to me), he said, "We haven't played this one in awhile, so here's hoping we don't screw it up!"
He introduced "Circles" as being a "sad song" and "Mammoth" as their namesake song. The songs balanced a melodic vocal style (Wolf has a nice voice, I think) with some hard-rock crunch. I particularly enjoyed hearing "Resolve", one of the few songs where Wolf played acoustic guitar.
When it came time to perform the song that is a message to his late father ("Distance"), Wolfgang stated it was a hard one for him to do. A lady in the audience held up a sign for him to see that said, "Your father is smiling", which I found to be a bit audacious, to dare to mention his dead father to him, but perhaps I was being overly sensitive, as she probably meant well.
WVH then introduced all the band members, ending with "...and I'm Wolf," while flashing the audience the peace sign. They had played 13 songs, and he said, "This is our last one," as they proceeded to do "Epiphany", one of my favorites from the album. Then they all took a bow, left the stage, and the house lights came on.
I took him at his word that they were finished and left the theatre with a friend who had went with me. While I had brought my smartphone because it had QR codes to be scanned so we could gain admission to the show, I didn't bother to hold up my phone to film anything, preferring to just live in the moment. My friend filmed a few seconds of the concert for a Facebook post, however.
Was it worth it? Well, I thought over $50 a ticket was a bit steep for a concert that went barely over an hour, and had no opening act. But, they HAD played the entire Mammoth WVH album, sounded alright, and I had missed going to concerts for a year'and-a-half. So, I suppose I'm glad that I went!
August 29, 2021
Tucson, Arizona
I was debating whether or not to wear a mask for this concert, when the issue was decided for me. Mammoth WVH made an announcement that they required all their concertgoers to wear masks when not eating or drinking, and that ticketholders must further provide proof of either being fully vaccinated or having gotten a negative test result for coronavirus within the previous 72 hours. For anyone who had purchased a ticket who didn't like those requirements, a full refund was offered. This message came to me via an email from Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster would refund all the electronic purchases, and physical ticket purchases would be refunded by the venue, in this case an historic place in downtown Tucson called the Rialto Theatre.
The Rialto is a place with a concrete floor slanting down towards a wooden stage raised about 4 1/2 feet off of the floor, with a balcony and what looks like dark foam padding on the walls. When I first went there to see a concert in early 2000 (a blues-rock Native American family band called Indigenous), there wasn't any air conditioning, and the place often needed it (I recall a Tragically Hip concert there in October 200 that was so warm and humid that water vapor could be seen floating through the air among band members, in the beams of bright white stage lights). The general feel of the Rialto is that of visiting an old vaudeville venue, plus the slanted floor.
Now, to the concert itself: the show was due to start at 8 PM, but Wolfgang and his band didn't make an appearance until 8:30. He had with him two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer, and was changing guitars every couple of songs. At one point, he held up a small guitar and said something like, "Look at this: Wolfgang holding a Wolfgang," as he twitched his eyebrows slightly upward.
His voice sounded smooth, and he had backing vocal help from the bassist and one of the guitar players (the one with the long beard). Wolf had a close-shaved beard and mustache, looked about 30 pounds overweight, and kept a serious expression on his face about 99% of the time. He explained that they had been opening for Guns 'n Roses for most of their shows, and that this uncommon solo show gave them a chance to play more songs from the Mammoth WVH album. Introducing one song (I forget which one; despite my preparing for this show by listening to the album about ten times, I found that a lot of the songs sounded alike to me), he said, "We haven't played this one in awhile, so here's hoping we don't screw it up!"
He introduced "Circles" as being a "sad song" and "Mammoth" as their namesake song. The songs balanced a melodic vocal style (Wolf has a nice voice, I think) with some hard-rock crunch. I particularly enjoyed hearing "Resolve", one of the few songs where Wolf played acoustic guitar.
When it came time to perform the song that is a message to his late father ("Distance"), Wolfgang stated it was a hard one for him to do. A lady in the audience held up a sign for him to see that said, "Your father is smiling", which I found to be a bit audacious, to dare to mention his dead father to him, but perhaps I was being overly sensitive, as she probably meant well.
WVH then introduced all the band members, ending with "...and I'm Wolf," while flashing the audience the peace sign. They had played 13 songs, and he said, "This is our last one," as they proceeded to do "Epiphany", one of my favorites from the album. Then they all took a bow, left the stage, and the house lights came on.
I took him at his word that they were finished and left the theatre with a friend who had went with me. While I had brought my smartphone because it had QR codes to be scanned so we could gain admission to the show, I didn't bother to hold up my phone to film anything, preferring to just live in the moment. My friend filmed a few seconds of the concert for a Facebook post, however.
Was it worth it? Well, I thought over $50 a ticket was a bit steep for a concert that went barely over an hour, and had no opening act. But, they HAD played the entire Mammoth WVH album, sounded alright, and I had missed going to concerts for a year'and-a-half. So, I suppose I'm glad that I went!
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StevieG
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Sounds like it wasn't the greatest concert ever, but worth getting out to a concert for the sake of getting out to a concert CH? I think some artists perhaps take themselves too seriously, which is of course their right. But I find I enjoy bands that interact in a more positive way with the audience. Thanks for the review!
Hugs and sh!t ~ lucimay
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I think you're right ~ TheFallen
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Zarathustra
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So keep a beer in your hand and you don't need a mask. In other words, every concert I've ever been to for the last 30 years.Cord Hurn wrote:Mammoth WVH made an announcement that they required all their concertgoers to wear masks when not eating or drinking, and that ticketholders must further provide proof of either being fully vaccinated or having gotten a negative test result for coronavirus within the previous 72 hours.
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Cord Hurn
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Mammoth WVH
StevieG wrote:Sounds like it wasn't the greatest concert ever, but worth getting out to a concert for the sake of getting out to a concert CH? I think some artists perhaps take themselves too seriously, which is of course their right. But I find I enjoy bands that interact in a more positive way with the audience. Thanks for the review!
StevieG, I think your assessment that it as worth going out nailed it. Wasn't the greatest, but it being feeling that it was worth it is all I'm hoping for any live show I see. Wolf seems like a nice, but serious guy. His live singing voice is pleasant, the band's competent, and of course he's a pretty good instrumentalist. Song writing is okay, but much of it sounds similar in feel, and I'd still pick only those three songs "Epiphany", "Resolve", and "Distance".as stand-out tracks. (Okay, maybe the song "Mammoth", as well.)
Zarathustra wrote:So keep a beer in your hand and you don't need a mask. In other words, every concert I've ever been to for the last 30 years.Cord Hurn wrote:Mammoth WVH made an announcement that they required all their concertgoers to wear masks when not eating or drinking, and that ticketholders must further provide proof of either being fully vaccinated or having gotten a negative test result for coronavirus within the previous 72 hours.
Going to this concert felt somewhat different to me from concerts in the past. Partly due to having to show the vaccination card and wear the mask, yes, but also because people tended to keep their masks on for most of the show when not downing a drink or eating some popcorn. Me, I liked having red wine to gulp down, and when not doing that chose to keep the mask on. Towards the end of the concert, you could see the crowd getting more relaxed about keeping the masks on. Still, I don't recall anybody using the strategy of holding onto a drink all the time so as to remain unmasked.