It may have been the end of the Mammoth II Tour, but just the beginning of a high-energy, max-volume night. On March 5th, Mammoth WVH visited Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut to show off their new album “Mammoth II”, as well as favorites from years back. While there’s a five-piece touring lineup, it’s Wolfgang Van Halen’s band. The familiar last name also belongs to his late father and renowned guitarist Eddie Van Halen (of Van Halen, of course). Before Wolfgang and his crew could tear up the stage, opener Nita Strauss warmed up the crowd.
Speaking of renowned guitarists, Nita Stauss has her own stacked-up resume. After playing for artists like Alice Cooper, As Blood Runs Black, Consume the Fire, Femme Fatale, and Demi Lovato, she is currently working on solo projects. While on the Mammoth tour, she is promoting her new album “The Call of The Void”. While the Nita Strauss ensemble was technically the opener, I think they could have headlined their own show.
The ground of the sold-out building felt like a beating heart we soon as Strauss began playing filthy riffs. As she spoke to the audience about the band’s Toad’s debut, she asked “Are you ready to rock? How about scream?” as she proceeded to invite Deadlands singer Kasey Karlsen on stage to be the vocalist for the band that night.
The vibrant energy from these powerful women was contagious. Tracking them with my eyes as they endlessly traversed the stage made for a busy 40 minutes. She opened up with the instrumental track “Summer Storm” and had the audience captivated ever since. It was mystifying to listen to Kasey Karlsen perform her own takes on verses sung by artists Dorothy Martin of Dorothy, Jonathan Davis of Korn, and Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy. I couldn’t take my eyes off this incredible group the whole night, except for the moment Nita Strauss took a fall on stage, but rest assured, she got right up and didn’t miss a beat.
My personal favorite part of their set was hearing the 2018 song “Marianna Trench” brought to life. Absolutely incredible. The only things the opener and the headliner had in common were putting on fantastic performances and sounding exactly like their recorded versions, but better.
Mammoth WVH kicked their 15-song setlist off with “I’m Alright,” a song from their most recent album. Wolfgang Van Halen was quick to thank the crowd for showing up for him and packing the room wall-to-wall. In between songs he even cracked a few jokes and told some stories. It might have been comforting for the unlucky fans watching the show from behind a column to know that the band played a show on this tour where they too were navigating around a column, but on stage. Fortunately, I was not one of those fans and I had a fantastic view of the events on stage.
Van Halen’s sharp and clean voice clearly reached his multigenerational audience that night. The man standing next to me couldn’t stop moving the whole night, except for the acoustic version of “Distance,” when he proceeded to tear up with his feet planted. Similarly, Van Halen had his feet planted almost the whole night as well. This seemed to be a theme for the headliner as the crowd was deterred from moshing and surfing on this rainy Tuesday night. Maybe it was in solidarity with his passionate fans.
They finished up the night with an encore, to which Van Halen came back out and said, “I don’t know why bands do this [leave the stage and come back for an encore].” The man has a point, because there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t going to play the two radio hits “Another Celebration at the End of the World” or “Don’t Back Down.” The atmosphere was ecstatic, and the room was filled with utmost joy.
Overall, I would see both bands again. Nita Strauss, Kasey Karlsen, and Co. killed it, as well as Wolfgang Van Halen and his group. Their presence was electrifying and it’s no wonder why the band sold out the classic New Haven venue. I just hope they got to enjoy the well-deserved Frank Pepes pizza they raved about during their show. It was well worth coming out in the rain to enjoy some rock-and-roll and capture some monumental performances.
