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Mastodon tapped YouTuber and session guitarist Ben Eller to take over for founding member Brent Hinds during the band’s set on Sunday (March 9th) at Tool’s destination festival Tool in the Sand in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Eller appeared to step in on short notice after Mastodon announced that Hinds, the band’s guitarist and co-vocalist for 25 years, was exiting the band on Friday.
For his first Mastodon set, Eller was tasked with the tall order of holding down Hinds’ parts — including vocals — for a massive, career-spanning 17-song setlist. That included a handful of songs were played for the first time in five years or more (“Ember City,” “Ghost of Karelia,” “The Motherload,” etc.).
Eller, who has more than a half-million YouTube subscribers, is already well-versed in Mastodon’s material, with videos like “Stuff Mastodon Does” (nearly 1 million views) and the more recent “What I Learned from Mastodon.” That said, his performance was pretty impressive, considering the long set and a few deep cuts.
Eller also displays his skills on his YouTube channel via his long-running guitar lesson series “This Is Why You Suck at Guitar.” Additionally, he has provided session work for bands like Whitechapel, and he has performed with other acts such as the hair metal tribute Skankbanger and the Southern blues-rock outfit the Kennedy Wood Band.
While no official announcement has been made, it appears that Eller could very well take over as Mastodon’s touring guitarist for the time being, as the band has an extensive 2025 itinerary on the books. The veteran metal act’s co-headlining tour with Coheed and Cambria kicks off in May, followed by a pair of UK dates supporting Slayer in July. Get tickets here.
You can see audience footage of Eller performing with Mastodon below.
Setlist:
Pain With an Anchor
Crystal Skull
Black Tongue
I Am Ahab
Megalodon
Ember City
Tread Lightly
Ghost of Karelia
The Motherload
The Crux
Pushing the Tides
More Than I Could Chew
All the Heavy Lifting
Spectrelight
Mother Puncher
Steambreather
Blood and Thunder
English (US) · 