Wolfgang Van Halen Plays Show Seated With Sprained Ankle
Wolfgang Van Halen performed last night’s Mammoth WVH show in Huntsville, Ala., in a seated position after seriously spraining his ankle in a tour bus accident.
He noted that he'd be playing the performance like Dave Grohl, who led a series of Foo Fighters concerts from a custom-built throne after breaking his leg in 2016. Axl Rose later used the same throne when he sustained his own leg injury at Guns N’ Roses' first reunion show the same year.
“Walking off the tour bus this morning and sprained the fuck outta my ankle,” he tweeted, along with a picture of the medical support. “Now I gotta rock this boot for four to six weeks. Looks like the boot’s gonna get some show experience.” He later said the show’s sound check was “interesting." “Looks like I’m gonna be Dave Grohl-ing it tonight, folks. Be patient with me.”
You can see video of the opening song from last night's performance below.
After the performance, Van Halen shared a picture of his swollen leg. “Never done that before, but we pulled it off!" he wrote on Twitter. "Thanks to Huntsville for making it such a special show! Also, check out how fucked my ankle is.”
Van Halen’s admiration for Grohl is nothing new. He called the veteran singer, drummer and guitarist “one of the biggest inspirations” behind his decision to record Mammoth WVH’s debut album without any other musicians. “When [Grohl] started the Foo Fighters, he did everything himself on their first album,” Van Halen told Bass Player in a recent interview.
“I wanted to have a go at that, I guess. … I’ve always admired bands like Nine Inch Nails, where the project emanates from one person and grows from there. That's kind of how I view it, even though it is still me. I view it more as a band than some sort of solo project.”
Mammoth WVH have two more shows in their current run of dates – tonight and Oct. 23 – with their next confirmed concerts taking place in June 2022.