Mammoth WVH: Wolf Van Halen is Doing Things…His Way by Michael Bruce.

Mammoth WVH rocked a packed house on a Sunday night at Albany’s Empire Live music venue. It was Garrett Whitlock  on drums,  Ronnie Ficarro on bass, Jon Jourdan on guitar, Frank Sidoris on another guitar, and oh yeah, Wolf Van Halen on lead vocals and guitar. So let’s just get this out of the way right now. If for some crazy reason you don’t know, Wolf Van Halen is the son of world famous rock star guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. Children do not always get the full dose of genetic traits from their parents, but in this case it certainly seems that way. Wolf Van Halen is a major talent. He has released two albums under the band name of Mammoth WVH.  I personally think it’s very cool that he used the name Mammoth, because that was the name of one of his father’s early bands. Wolf writes the songs for the albums, as well as plays all the instruments. He is also the lead singer. I circle back to…Major Talent! Now you’re asking…can he play guitar like Eddie? My answer to that would be…can anybody play guitar like Eddie? I say the answer is no. However, to put your mind at ease, Wolf is Indeed an excellent guitar player.  Now that we are done with the father son comparison, let’s move on to just the son.

Father Eddie basically told Wolf to not worry about continuing his legacy, but create your own. That’s exactly what Wolf Van Halen is doing. Empire Live in Albany, New York was a totally packed house. Were there some fans there with Van Halen shirts on supporting their hero’s kid? Yes there was, but what I loved more than anything, is most of the people there were there because they truly love Mammoth WVH.  If you’re a rock n’ roll music fan, what’s not to like? Mammoth WVH has that “modern rock” sound. The songs are heavy rock at times, but other times they’re more of a bouncy “radio rock” style. The band’s music is not reinventing the wheel, but it’s truly kick ass fun rock music. The band is super solid and well-rehearsed. Wolf is definitely the star at the helm.  Not only with his guitar chops, but truly with a really good singing voice.  What’s also impressive is his coordination.  Some of the guitar parts he’s playing underneath his vocals are not so easy.  What I love is that there are no tracks being played in the background. You can tell that Wolf wanted to recreate the sound of his albums.  He definitely made sure that he got the personnel to be able to do that. The live sound of the band is like a big machine that’s running right through the room. It’s powerful and awesome. The band rattled off songs from both Mammoth WVH albums. “Mammoth”, “Right?”, “Mr. Ed”, “Like A Pastime”, “Optimist”, “Stone”, “Better Than You”, “The Distance”, “Think It Over”, “Epiphany”, “I’m Alright”, “You’re To Blame”, “Take A Bow”, “Don’t Back Down”, “Another Celebration At The End Of The World”. When Wolf sings “The Distance”, the song that he wrote for his father, it chokes me up every time I hear it. You knew it was coming when he said, “If there’s anybody that you wish was here with you tonight, this song is for them.” There were some people in the crowd that started chanting Eddie when the song was over. I also think that “Don’t Back Down” will probably be a standard encore song for the band, because it’s a great almost football gameish anthem.

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the opening band that really rocked. The band was called “BRKN Love” and they are from Toronto.  They had their share of very cool, fun, heavy riffs. Singer Justin Benlolo displayed his fantastic vocal range and the drummer, who unfortunately I didn’t catch his name when they said it…kicked my rear.  One of the best drum solos I’ve heard in recent times.  It seems as though he’s the newest member.  Hang on to him!  As for Mammoth WVH and their highly energetic followers? I feel like things are just heating up for Wolf Van Halen and company. Wolf played bass for one of the biggest bands in the world when he was in theee Van Halen. However, as Wolf stated on stage last night, there’s no greater feeling than walking into a room full of strangers, and they are all singing the words to the songs that you wrote. The son of a legend is doing things his way, and what works for him. All I can say is, so far so good.  I believe Mammoth WVH will be rocking bigger and bigger venues for a very long time.

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