Mammoth Takes Over The Wellmont Theater
One of my favorite concert moments happened at a Van Halen show back in 2004. Eddie was by himself and playing “316”. He sat down at the edge of the stage and took his hands off his guitar…but the song did not stop. Out walked a very young Wolfgang, long hair draped over his face, picking up where his dad had stopped. He sat beside his dad, who could not stop smiling as he took in the moment.
Fast forward two decades and I am leaning against the edge of the stage at The Wellmont Theater awaiting Mammoth’s set. As I took in the band’s setup, I found myself thinking about that beautiful father/son moment many years ago. This was my first time seeing the band, and I joined the crowd’s anticipation for them to take the stage. And damn, what a performance it was!
Mammoth had just released its third album, The End, a few weeks before the show and made sure to cover a good portion of it including “One Of A Kind”, “The End”, “Same Old Song” and “I Really Wanna”. Wolfgang has developed into a really strong front man, and obviously his guitar skills are stellar. The band as a whole is worth the price of admission, playing with a non-stop intensity that showed just how much this sold out show (the first they have had as a headliner) meant to them. They even included a touching tribute to Eddie as Wolfgang sang an acoustic version of “Distance” while home movies played in the background.
Joining Mammoth on this night were Myles Kennedy and Return to Dust. Kennedy and his bandmates gave the crowd a solid set of good old rock and roll. Nothing too flashy, and it worked very well as a bridge between the bands. I had never heard of Return to Dust before this show, but the Los Angeles rockers made quite an impression. They ripped through their set with non-stop energy, a fitting set up for the rest of the show.
Mammoth’s tour is ongoing, so you still have a chance to see them this year as the make their way back to the West Coast. And as always, be sure to check out all three of these bands wherever you stream your music.
Mammoth
Myles Kennedy
Return to Dust
Coverage from November 14, 2025 at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ.
All photos are © Michael Campanile Photography and cannot be used without permission.
