Partway through their Sunday night show at the Danforth Music Hall, Mammoth frontman Wolfgang Van Halen did an informal poll of the crowd, asking how many had seen them before and how many were first-timers. Surprisingly, the amount of cheers ended up being split pretty much evenly down the middle.
“That’s crazy, that’s like 50-50. Thanks for sacrificing your Sunday night for us,” said Van Halen. He added that even for those who had previously seen them, things would be a little different this time around. One major change, he noted, was that they now had a screen. Van Halen described the added visual element as being akin to cramming an arena show into a theatre, and went on to point out that all of the animations we’d be seeing that evening were made by actual artists, not AI.
“Everything you’re seeing tonight is made by a real human being and not that generative AI bullshit,” he said, adding, “That shit sucks,” and opining that it isn’t necessary. He stopped himself from going too far by reminding himself that this was a concert and not a TED Talk, though I appreciated him standing up for art made by actual people.
It’s hardly surprising though that someone like Van Halen, who’s dedicated much of his life to honing his craft as a musician, would side with artists over artificial intelligence. He would continue on with his old school, semi-Luddite stage banter later in the set when introducing the song “Resolve.”
Noting that they haven’t played the song since their first tour back in 2021 (“We were so young then”). he explained that they added it back into the set after lots of online demand from people wanting to hear it live. And though he belittled social media by referring to it as “garbage,” it’s clear that one beneficial effect of all this technology is that it enables a much more direct connection between bands and fans.
The theme of human connection continued with the next song, “Distance,” a tribute to Van Halen’s famous father Eddie. With the imagery on screen switching over from computer animation to home video footage of father and son together over the years, the song’s themes of connection to those we’ve lost and how they stay with us long after they’re gone were made explicit.
The link between father and son was also obvious while watching Van Halen and his bandmates show off their musical prowess, with tunes like “One of a Kind”, “Another Celebration at the End of the World” and the title track off their latest, The End, standing out as highlights. While Mammoth is clearly it’s own thing and inspired at least as much by ’90s/2000s alt-rock and metal as it is by the type of classic rock his father made, one obvious connection to Wolfgang’s heritage was made clear – he clearly must have learned a thing or two from his father. Dude can shred, that’s for sure.
