The highly anticipated headlining show of Mammoth WVH took place this past Saturday at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio. Originally, this was to be the first headlining show the band was supposed to do but they added a few headlining shows before their tour started opening for Guns N’ Roses. Mammoth WVH is led by former Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen. Accompanying him on tour are Ronnie Ficarro (bass/vocals), Jon Jourdan (guitars/vocals), Frank Sidoris (guitars) and Garret Whitlock (drums).
Mammoth WVH debut self titled record was just released on June 11, 2021 containing 13 songs with 2 bonus tracks. The record has received a lot of positive reviews and could end up being the rock record of the year. Just about that entire record was played live. No covers at all. It was a straight ahead Mammoth WVH fest from the blistering opening track of “Don’t Back Down” all the way throughout the set. The band already changed the setlist up some as “Horribly Right’ was slotted in next. Van Halen introduced the next song as the name of the band and they went into the very uplifting “Mammoth.” Playing in Cleveland it was kind of a homecoming show for Sidoris. Van Halen remarked as he had family in attendance. He was also wearing the local radio stations shirt, WMMS as a tribute of sorts. The band then proceeded to go into one of the bonus tracks from the Japanese release called “Talk & Walk.” My favorite track of the evening was “Think it Over.” It has a great hook and catchy chorus. Songs like “Blame” Van Halen gave a little more powerful vocal for it. Van Halen also mixed it up and played acoustic on “Resolve” and “Circles.” He also played keyboards on “Stone” and the 1st single the band released back last October in “Distance.”
The guitar tone was nice and beefy between Van Halen’s leads and rhythm guitar playing of both Sidoris and Jourdan. The band really played within the tempo of the songs and didn’t venture off track at any point. It wasn’t overfilled at any point. For talent, the apple doesn’t fall from the tree when you see all the instruments Van Halen plays. It’s great to see Wolfgang Van Halen doing his own thing and not succumbing to the pressure of trying to follow his dad. You can tell the audience at the House of Blues appreciated it and Van Halen and his band loved them for the response they received all night. In fact, that love I think transferred over into an extra song that the band were not planning on playing. The track called “As Long As Your Not You.” It was the first time the band performed it anywhere and it sounded great! I’m not sure if that was a song that will be on the next record or just didn’t make the cut for the debut? I can say that I hope they decide to add it on future sets. You see what a positive response can lead to as the band payed it back tenfold.
An all female band called Plush opened up the show. They played a short hard rocking 30 minute set that really impressed the audience. Catchy songs like “So Much better,” “Stitch Me Up” and their first single “Hate” were played. They also threw in a killer version of heart’s “Barracuda’ for good measure. They are definitely a band to keep an eye out for sure.
Setlist:
Don’t Back Down
Horribly Right
Mammoth
Mr. Ed
Resolve
Talk & Walk
Think It over
You’re to Blame
The Big Picture
Circles
Feel
Stone
Encore 1:
Distance
Epiphany
Encore 2:
As Long As Your Not You
We would like to thank Kevin Chiaramonte from PFA Media for the photo pass for the show.
