Rolling Stone - Wolf & Ed

[Kristy]

He stood there at that 2007 press conference like a chubby schlub.

He slowly wandered around onstage in 2007 like a chubby schlub.

Zero stage presence, as you said. I honestly can't even recall being aware in 2012 that he was performing onstage with the band, because it literally didn't occur to me to look his way.

Well, I don't know about that. When I saw them live he had one hell of a smug stage presence. With thousands and thousands of dollars in instruments and stage gear none of which he broke a sweat to earn and knowing no major musical manufacturer would sponsor him apart from his daddy he brought no energy to the band. I saw them live in 2004 when Mikey was blowing S P A M M Y at least he had some interaction with the audience. I have nothing against the F A T Wolf Boy but when you're given the keys to daddy's Ferrari without ever having a job in your life chances are good he's going wreck it and would have if Ed did not buy a farm.

[Terry]

Well, I don't know about that. When I saw them live he had one hell of a smug stage presence. With thousands and thousands of dollars in instruments and stage gear none of which he broke a sweat to earn and knowing no major musical manufacturer would sponsor him apart from his daddy he brought no energy to the band. I saw them live in 2004 when Mikey was blowing S P A M M Y at least he had some interaction with the audience. I have nothing against the F A T Wolf Boy but when you're given the keys to daddy's Ferrari without ever having a job in your life chances are good he's going wreck it and would have if Ed did not buy a farm.

I couldn't say for sure if he was smug about it, although as you say he may well have been smug about his sense of entitlement. He just slowly wandered around onstage. I dunno...maybe that's what he is comfortable doing or can't be bothered to exhibit an ounce of showmanship or doesn't feel showmanship is important because he never had to display any to get into the band in the first place. I don't really have anything against him, but I could never really have much of anything for him, either, for the same reason as you said: he brought no energy to the band. Would have been one thing if he actually worked a bit onstage. I do seem to recall something along the lines of Wolfgang being the one to pick the setlists, so if nothing else Wolfgang's suggestions resulted in those deeper CVH cuts getting an airing and the setlists changing from tour to tour to tour. I guess there's that. I just never felt at any point during 2006-2015 that the band was somehow any better where it counted - playing music onstage - because of Wolfgang being there.

I think it would have been better along the lines of what Von said, where Wolfgang could have facilitated Dave getting back into the band but encouraged his dad to get Mike back, too. If Wolfgang is a fraction as savvy about the internet and what is said on Van Halen fan sites as he comes off as being, he damn well knew what people wanted to see was CVH back together. And that could have happened in 2012...or 2015, It didn't take three tours with Wolfgang before an overture to Anthony was made. THAT is damned ridiculous.

[Terry]

Broader view: whatever. Van Halen is over. What was, was.

[Nitro Express]

He stood there at that 2007 press conference like a chubby schlub.

He slowly wandered around onstage in 2007 like a chubby schlub.

Zero stage presence, as you said. I honestly can't even recall being aware in 2012 that he was performing onstage with the band, because it literally didn't occur to me to look his way.

He’s a brat with some musical talent. There’s nobodies on You Tube that can outperform Wolf in every way but their last name isn’t Van Halen. At least he’s doing something and not spending all his time eating Cheetos, playing video games and stiring shit on Twitter. Anyways I could care less about the lame fuck.

[Nitro Express]

All of the members of the original VH had stage presence. They were hungry (Not for twinkies). They truly enjoyed their craft and it showed onstage. Ed was probably the happiest guitar player ever. I don't think anyone smiled as much while playing onstage as Ed did.

Wolf is too brooding. He almost seems like he's doing it because he's a Van Halen, not because of any sort of hunger for it. But he never had to work for it like the rest of the band did. He's like the spoiled rich kid that takes over daddy's company just because he's the son. While I am grateful he helped get Ed and Dave back together, in hindsight, Ed should have kept Mike and made Wolfgang form his own band and be the opening act. They'd have still gotten preferential treatment, but at least he'd have had to somewhat earn his place on that stage. He had no stage presence with VH. He has no stage presence now. He's a fine musician, but there is no chemistry in his band, because they aren't really a band. They are live, session musicians.

Exactly. VH were a bunch of pirates on a raid. They were take no prisoners.

[Nitro Express]

Well, I don't know about that. When I saw them live he had one hell of a smug stage presence. With thousands and thousands of dollars in instruments and stage gear none of which he broke a sweat to earn and knowing no major musical manufacturer would sponsor him apart from his daddy he brought no energy to the band. I saw them live in 2004 when Mikey was blowing S P A M M Y at least he had some interaction with the audience. I have nothing against the F A T Wolf Boy but when you're given the keys to daddy's Ferrari without ever having a job in your life chances are good he's going wreck it and would have if Ed did not buy a farm.

Wolf is so fat he wouldn’t fit into a Ferrari and even if he could squeeze all that blubber into one, he would never get back out.

[Nitro Express]

I just bought a ticket to see Ed play and Ed didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed seeing Al play too, he was great as well. Dave was past the sell date but hey, it was fun to see him up there. Wolf added more weight to make sure the stage wouldn’t blow away.

[Kristy]

I couldn't say for sure if he was smug about it, although as you say he may well have been smug about his sense of entitlement. He just slowly wandered around onstage. I dunno...maybe that's what he is comfortable doing or can't be bothered to exhibit an ounce of showmanship or doesn't feel showmanship is important because he never had to display any to get into the band in the first place. I don't really have anything against him, but I could never really have much of anything for him, either, for the same reason as you said: he brought no energy to the band. Would have been one thing if he actually worked a bit onstage. I do seem to recall something along the lines of Wolfgang being the one to pick the setlists, so if nothing else Wolfgang's suggestions resulted in those deeper CVH cuts getting an airing and the setlists changing from tour to tour to tour. I guess there's that. I just never felt at any point during 2006-2015 that the band was somehow any better where it counted - playing music onstage - because of Wolfgang being there.

I think it would have been better along the lines of what Von said, where Wolfgang could have facilitated Dave getting back into the band but encouraged his dad to get Mike back, too. If Wolfgang is a fraction as savvy about the internet and what is said on Van Halen fan sites as he comes off as being, he damn well knew what people wanted to see was CVH back together. And that could have happened in 2012...or 2015, It didn't take three tours with Wolfgang before an overture to Anthony was made. THAT is damned ridiculous.

At the Red Rocks show in 2015 I couldn't hear him which is weird at a place like Red Rocks where you can hear every musical nuance. Eddie was fantastic. You could distinguish every note and his tone was more than self-evident. Problem was the same with Roth's voice which was shot and innervating as fuck but that's another story. Most bass I remember from that show was from Alex's double kick and those seemed to be miked up. The F A T Wolf Boy just stood there like a zombie John Entwistle although nowhere near his playing skill level. I guess nepotism has it rewards like the whole Jason Bonham where his dad was a world famous drummer so he must be a world famous drummer, too. See how that works? Eddie and Alex should have hired someone. I don't care if it was session musician and kept them in the back kind of like what The Doors did. The majority of the people at that show all wanted to see Eddie, not an smug little shit who played basic bass lines with daddy's money


Sure, you can make an solid argument that he has talent but personally I see nothing special or original about the guy. He sounds like every other metal bar band in the past 30 years.

Too many effects an no personality. Utterly boring. Jimmy "The Asshole" Page plagiarized riffs like this only he was smart enough to make a melody out of them.

[Terry]

At the Red Rocks show in 2015 I couldn't hear him which is weird at a place like Red Rocks where you can hear every musical nuance. Eddie was fantastic. You could distinguish every note and his tone was more than self-evident. Problem was the same with Roth's voice which was shot and innervating as fuck but that's another story. Most bass I remember from that show was from Alex's double kick and those seemed to be miked up. The F A T Wolf Boy just stood there like a zombie John Entwistle although nowhere near his playing skill level. I guess nepotism has it rewards like the whole Jason Bonham where his dad was a world famous drummer so he must be a world famous drummer, too. See how that works? Eddie and Alex should have hired someone. I don't care if it was session musician and kept them in the back kind of like what The Doors did. The majority of the people at that show all wanted to see Eddie, not an smug little shit who played basic bass lines with daddy's money


Sure, you can make an solid argument that he has talent but personally I see nothing special or original about the guy. He sounds like every other metal bar band in the past 30 years.

Too many effects an no personality. Utterly boring. Jimmy "The Asshole" Page plagiarized riffs like this only he was smart enough to make a melody out of them.

I couldn't hear his bass in 2008 unless Ed stopped playing and Dave stopped singing. His bass was way down in the mix. And the backing vocals were augmented by pre-recorded backing tracks.

In 2012 my recollection was that he was a little louder in the mix than he had been the previous tour, but I wasn't paying much attention to him.

Never thought Jason Bonham was a world-class drummer, either. Just a guy who copped his father's style.

I'm not gonna bother watching the Mammoth clip, because nothing I heard from the album made me want to hear any of it live, although it was good that you included it. Wolfgang, from what I've heard, is about as talented as any other number of professional musicians in his age bracket. My reaction to the Mammoth album was basically what it would have been if the group were a bunch of Joe Blows From Idaho and I stumbled across the music on YouTube, which is basically a shoulder shrug, Wasn't "the worst music EVER" or whatever, but bland and forgettable.