MAMMOTH WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen spoke to Matt Pinfield of 95.5 KLOS‘s “New & Approved” show about what it has been like to open for METALLICA on the latter band’s “M72” world tour. Regarding how his group landed the gig, Wolfgang said he seeds were likely planted when he met METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London last September.
“[Lars] was super kind, super nice,” Van Halen said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “We shook hands and talked for a little bit. I had no idea that that would lead him asking us to take part in the tour. I kind of can’t believe that we’ll be opening for them for the whole tour. I think we’re the only opener to be playing every building with them, which is really crazy. [I’m] very excited, very honored to be a part of it. We already just did Amsterdam, which was crazy. They have a really crazy stage, so it’s definitely a first. But, yeah, very excited and honored to be a part of it.”
Speaking specifically about the “M72” tour’s in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, Wolfgang said: “Walking into the stadium [to play the first show in Amsterdam], it was just, like, ‘We’ve never done anything like this before.’ We were all just kind of shocked during even soundcheck. We were just, like, ‘This is really what we’re doing here?’ [Laughs] And then you do the show with the actual people there, and that’s when it’s just, like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is unreal.’ It’s the most extravagant form of a concert, of a stage I think I’ve ever played on. Absolutely crazy.”
MAMMOTH WVH played its first concert as the opening act for METALLICA on April 27 at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Fan-filmed video of the show can be seen below.
Not long before the Amsterdam show, Wolfgang was asked by the Rock 100.5 The KATT radio station if he was looking forward to sharing the stage with METALLICA. He responded: “It’s pretty wild. I don’t know if it’s so much ‘looking forward to’ as it is having a meltdown in my head figuring out how we’re gonna play in the round. ‘Cause I’ve never done that in my life. So that’s gonna be definitely a trip to try and figure out… You can’t really rehearse that until you just do that.”
Asked if he had met the METALLICA guys before, Wolfgang said: “I’ve met Lars and I’ve met James [Hetfield, guitar/vocals], and they were both very wonderful dudes, so it’s an honor for them to have asked us to take part in such a crazy tour. I don’t think I’ve ever known what I was doing two summers from now, but I know that now I am opening for METALLICA next summer, which that’s just kind of a crazy thing [to think about].”
Regarding how MAMMOTH WVH got the gig as the opening act for METALLICA, Wolfgang said: “It could have been in London when I played the Taylor Hawkins tribute show. Lars was there too. And I shook his hand and he was super nice. I don’t know — maybe he was, like, ‘Oh, Wolf has a band. Let’s check them out.’ And then he just decided to ask us to be a part of it, which is crazy.”
Wolfgang Van Halen is the ex-bassist of VAN HALEN and son of the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
MAMMOTH WVH will release its sophomore album, “Mammoth II”, on August 4 via BMG. Wolfgang once again wrote all of the songs and performed all of the instrumentation and vocals himself on the 10-track LP, which was recorded at the legendary 5150 studio and was produced by Wolfgang‘s friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette.
MAMMOTH WVH‘s debut album was released via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.
MAMMOTH WVH‘s first single, “Distance”, reached No. 1 on the MediaBase and BDS Active Rock Radio charts. A tribute to Wolfgang‘s father, the song was not originally intended to be on MAMMOTH WVH‘s debut album, but due to the overwhelming response to its accompanying video, which has been viewed over seven million times on YouTube, it was added as a bonus track. All of Wolfgang‘s proceeds from “Distance” are being donated to Mr. Holland’s Opus.
“Distance” is an open letter to Wolfgang‘s father, declaring “no matter what the distance is, I will be with you.” The video for the song is created from a collection of family home movies through the years and offers an inside look in to one of music’s most notable personalities. Chronicling the family through the years, the video ends with a touching voicemail left from Eddie to his son.
In November 2020, Wolfgang confirmed that he asked his father for permission to use the MAMMOTH WVH band name for his solo project. MAMMOTH WVH is a nod to family history — Eddie and Alex Van Halen‘s band was called MAMMOTH when singer David Lee Roth first joined it in 1974.
Last November, MAMMOTH WVH released a digital deluxe edition of the debut album via EX1 Records. The new digital deluxe features the bonus track from the Japanese version of the album, “Talk & Walk”, as well as two previously unreleased tracks, “As Long As You’re Not You” and “Goodbye”.