By Nate Follmer
Baltimore showed up and packed the nearly sold out Rams Head Live as Nita Strauss and Mammoth WVH brought the Mammoth II tour to Inner Harbor. It was a night filled with monstrous guitar riffs, thunderous blast beats, face melting guitar solos and every other cliché hard rock phrase you can think of!
Opening the night at Rams Head Live was Nita Strauss. While this was my second time seeing Nita this year (my first was with Alice Cooper), this was my first time seeing her solo act. I was instantly blown away by the wall of sound coming from the stage. The energy her and her band puts into their playing is unmatched by any other musicians I have seen live. There was no gentle warming up of the crowd. We were instantly thrown into the fire and didn’t leave it until the night was over.
Nita, Johnny Young (Guitar), Christopher Dean (Bass), Katt Scarlett (Keyboard) and Josh Villalta (Drums) ripped through a setlist consisting of songs like “Summer Storm”, “The Wolf You Feed”, “Dead Inside” and “Victorious” from “The Call of the Void”. Vocalist Kasey Karlsen of Deadlands joined the stage mid-way through the set to provide her vocal talents on most of the tracks off “The Call of the Void”. Her ability to switch from low end guttural growls to high end clean vocals is impressive. I’ve been listening to “House of Cards” while writing this review, but I digress…
After Nita’s set, I honestly don’t know where the crowd found the strength to give Mammoth WVH such a welcome. When Wolfgang walked out on stage, every level of Rams Head erupted like I’d never seen in that venue.
This was also my second time seeing Mammoth WVH – my first being when they were supporting Alter Bridge on their last tour. When does Mammoth WVH take time off? I feel like they’ve been touring since their beginning. They must be getting rest while on the road, because their shows are high energy and full of punch. It was great seeing a full headlining set from Mammoth WVH.
Throughout their nearly 90 minute set Wolfgang Van Halen, Frank Sidoris (Guitar), Jon Jourdan (Guitar), Ronnie Ficarro (Bass) and Garrett Whitlock (Drums) played through songs like “Miles Above Me”, “I’m Alright” and “Think It Over”. Wolfgang’s charismatic persona shines through in both his music and crowd work. The crowd was singing along with every song and laughing with Wolfgang’s antics and jokes between songs.
Wolfgang flew solo near the end of the night and brought out his acoustic guitar to play Wonderwall… I mean “Distance”. He did start playing Wonderwall before and after “Distance”. The crowd wasn’t having it, but as he said, “There’s a reason that song is a hit”. Mammoth WVH has a unique ability to create a setlist full of heavy and light ‘poppy’ music that flows its way beautifully through the night.
The band came back for “Waiting”, “You’re to Blame”, and Wolfgang showed off his tapping skills on “Take a Bow”. The energy was cranked back up for “Another Celebration at the End of The World”, which features another blistering solo from Wolfgang, and the band ended the night with “Don’t Back Down”.
The Mammoth II tour continues its way through the US with shows scattered across the country and then ending in California on December 9th. Mammoth WVH will then spend the first half of 2024 overseas, returning to the US to play some select shows with the Foo Fighters. Seriously, they just don’t stop touring. Definitely check them out if they are coming to a city near you.