Wolfgang Van Halen will soon witness both sides of touring. He’s gigging at the Rialto Theatre on Tuesday, Aug. 22, and then stepping on Metallica’s massive “M72” stage on its tour Friday, Sept. 1, at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
“It’s ridiculous,” the vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist said with a laugh about Metallica’s stage setup.
“Their stage alone is a very insane thing. It’s in-the-round and it’s wacky, crazy and amazing. We just played MetLife (Stadium) in Jersey and, man, you just feel like an ant on it.”
Both sets with his band Mammoth WVH will have something in common: They will feature songs from his new album “Mammoth II” and his live band — guitarists Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan; bassist Ronnie Ficarro and drummer Garrett Whitlock.
With the new album, the son of Eddie Van Halen wanted to think outside the box. Songs like “Miles Above Me,” “I’m Alright” and “Waiting” are all sonically varied.
“Right?” kicks off the album.
“It’s a super aggressive but super melodic song,” he said. “It shows you what to expect from the album with its aggressive rhythm and catchy melodies.”
“I’m Alright” rocks a driving drumbeat, a hypnotic piano and a guitar solo — the latter of which is by his uncle, Patrick Bertinelli. His mother, legendary actress Valerie Bertinelli, appears in the video.
“‘I’m Alright’ is the single that is coinciding with the album release,” Van Halen said.
“The video is really fun continuing the story that was established from ‘Don’t Back Down’ and ‘Another Celebration at the End of the World.’ I think it’s really funny that the lyrics are quite angry but delivered through the lens of sort of a comfy rock song. If there ever was an anthem for myself about standing up for what I believe I should be doing — as opposed to what people expect — this is certainly that song.”
“Mammoth II” was recorded at Van Halen’s 5150 studio, which was built by his father. The collection was produced by friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette. The key was avoiding the sophomore slump, he said.
“There’s a really strong desire to not have a sophomore slump,” he said. “That’s what people wait for. I came into the whole process with a bit more confidence. I had established everything on the first album. I didn’t know if I could sing. I did it and it worked.”
With “Mammoth II,” Van Halen — who wrote and performed all the songs, like on his first album — took into consideration how the songs would sound live.
“We thought this especially with the second album—this moment would be great live, this solo would be fun live, this chorus is great,” Van Halen said.
“‘Another Celebration at the End of the World’ is definitely one of the more fun songs to play live. It’ll be exciting. I’m writing the setlist for the headlining tour. We’re going to have an A set and a B set. So, fans might hear different songs, depending on the show.”
In the meantime, Van Halen is balancing his one-off shows and the Metallica shows before the headlining gigs with Nita Strauss opening.
“I hope fans enjoy the new album,” he said.
“We’re going to play everything we can from it. The live show informed the creation of ‘Mammoth II.’ It’s going to be a really fun night, given this is our first actual headlining tour.”
Mammoth WVH
WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22
WHERE: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $27.50
INFO: www.ticketmaster.com, www. mammothwvh.com
This article appears in Aug 17-23, 2023.