There are a lot of shows I’ve covered for Montreal Rocks over the past year, and some I went in not knowing much about what I was about to shoot and review. The main things that I knew getting into this show was that Mammoth WVH has Eddie Van Halen’s son as the lead, and Nita Strauss has been touring a lot with Alice Cooper. The bar was set at a level based on these legendary connections to the industry. Once again, I felt like I was doing a cram study on the metro to learn some songs for these acts to know something about their own careers.
Nita Strauss started off the night with a quick intro to who she is through leading off with five instrumental tracks that showcased her prowess on the guitar. Nita was all over the stage, jamming next to her bandmates and hyping up the crowd. Her catalogue has a lot of songs that feature well-known guest vocalists, such as Lzzy Hale, David Draiman, Chris Motionless, and Anders Fridén. Looking at the setlist after the fact, it looks like they shuffled a few songs around to make room for a special guest. After “The Quest,” Nita’s touring singer Kasey Karlsen came out and sang “Through The Noise,” but everybody had their phones out for the next song. It seems like Arch Enemy is currently not touring, as Alissa White-Gluz joined Nita as the hometown act to sing “The Wolf You Feed” to treat Montreal to a live rendition of what Nita had recorded in the studio. Alissa dipped out after her song, and Kasey Karlsen took over vocals for the remaining two songs.
Setlist
- Summer Storm
- Our Most Desperate Hour
- Mariana Trench
- Alegria
- The Quest (Incl. drum solo)
- Through the Noise
- Dead Inside
- Victorious
- The Wolf You Feed (with Alissa White-Gluz)
It’s inevitable as the son of a famous musician that you’re going to be compared to Dad. Especially as the son of Eddie Van Halen, you have the shoes to fill of someone that made a huge impact on the music industry. This was the first time I was able to see Mammoth WVH, and unfortunately, I’m too young to have been able to catch Eddie Van Halen in his prime or at all. I think whatever lessons Eddie taught Wolfgang when they were touring together under the Van Halen banner, Wolfgang has refined it into completely his own style.
The expectation of fast guitars is not missed in Wolfgang’s solos, and the setlist was built to smash all expectations. Mammoth and Wolfgang made it clear by the seventh song, “I’m Alright,” that not only can Wolfgang shred, but he can sing and shine on his own, but the band also has his back to help fulfill his role. Gone are the hair metal days of Eddie, but Wolfgang is here to rock. It was a fun set in total, as “Wolfie” shared some humorous anecdotes and some tales from the road. Definitely will be checking out the discographies of both of these acts a little bit more in the future.
Setlist
- Mammoth
- Miles Above Me
- Like a Pastime
- Optimist
- Stone
- I’m Alright
- Epiphany
- Think It Over
- Distance (Wolfgang solo acoustic)
- Waiting
- You’re to Blame
- Feel
- Take a Bow (No bass for the first half of the song)
Encore:
- Another Celebration at the End of the World
- Don’t Back Down (Preceded by band introductions)
Review & photos – Ryan Rumpel
