There is never a place on earth without at least one – haters that is. Well, perhaps maybe the Sahara Desert. But then again, even in the solitude of the vast desert one could still consider a scorpion a hater. After all, if you are unfortunate to be stung by one of those little buggers it could be lights out. In the wacky world of rock and roll music, Wolf Van Halen recently spoke up on the subject of haters. Here is what he had to say.
As per Ultimate Guitar, Wolfgang Van Halen noted how certain folks online doubting that he actually played his Van Halen guitar parts live during the two Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins tribute shows. These shows took place in London and Los Angeles earlier this year, thus explaining why he took such mean-spirited jabs as “even more of a compliment”.
With The Darkness frontman & YouTuber Justin Hawkins serving as the David Lee Roth to Wolf’s Eddie Van Halen, the Mammoth WVH mastermind’s performances became the highlights of both Taylor Hawkins tribute shows.
Wolf famously refused (and does to this day) to play Van Halen classics after Eddie passed away. He made an important exception on both occasions, as a means of honoring the memories of the late Foo Fighters drummer and that of his late dad.On both occasions, Wolf proved he was more than competent of carrying the Van Halen name, as fans across the world praised his precision and outstanding mastery of the ax.
“Hearing those things are a huge compliment. Some people took it really far and said that I didn’t actually do it at all,” says Wolf in a recently published interview with Classic Rock.
Sadly, a portion of internet “fans” did question the credibility of his playing. However, Wolf doesn’t seem to be at all upset by it, explaining:
“[Laughing] The most obvious response is to consider that an insult, but I take it as even more of a compliment.
“You line up the solos, and there are times when I’m not even playing what’s on the [original Van Halen] record.
“Preparing for those shows was really tough, because it forced me to go back and look through those songs.
“I still wasn’t completely comfortable in doing that, emotionally speaking, so it took a lot.”
Wolf is currently working on a follow-up to the self-titled debut of Mammoth WVH. You can check out his performance at the LA Justin Hawkins tribute concert captured on fan footage below:
