Wolfgang Van Halen still can’t believe his band Mammoth WVH are touring with Metallica. Maybe even harder to believe – the enormity of Metallica’s stage setup.
“Yeah, they have a really crazy stage so, it’s definitely a first,” Wolfgang said during his recent appearance on KLOS FM’s New & Approved show with Matt Pinfield. “I’m very excited and honored to be a part of it.”
Mammoth WVH have been on Metallica’s M72 Tour since late April and will remain the opening act through late September. Metallica features a massive in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed Metallica Snake Pit to center stage so that fans get a complete 360 view of the show.
“Walking into that into that room, into that stadium, it was just like, ‘Wow, I’ve never done anything like this before,'” said Wolfgang. “We are just kinda shocked. Even [doing] soundcheck [on the stage], we were just like, ‘This is really what we’re doing here! [laughs]’ And then you do the show with actual people there and that’s when it’s just like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is unreal.’ It’s the most extravagant form of a concert I think I’ve ever, of a stage I think I’ve ever played on. Absolutely crazy.”
Wolfgang talks about the upcoming release of Mammoth II, meeting Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, his relationship with Police drummer Stewart Copeland, his favorite concerts, including seeing Tool with his dad Eddie in 2019 and more in the video below.