Mastodon Play First Show Without Brent Hinds, Reveal Fill-in

Yesterday (March 9), Mastodon played their first show since parting ways with longtime guitarist Brent Hinds, utilizing the services of YouTuber Ben Eller.

It was a high profile set at Tool‘s Live in the Sand Festival where Eller made his live debut with the veteran prog group. Littered among the career-spanning 17-song setlist were a handful of relative rarities with five songs that hadn’t been performed in five years or more — “Ember City,” “Tread Lightly,” “Ghost of Karelia,” “The Motherload” and “All the Heavy Lifting.”

Just prior to the festival’s kickoff, Mastodon informed fans of the surprising lineup change via a statement released on social media, which can be seen directly below. The group noted that they had “mutually decided” to split with Hinds, a co-founder, and that all of their 2025 touring plans would remain unaffected by this personnel move.

Mastodon’s lone set at Tool’s festival at the Hard Rock & Royalton Resorts in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic kicked off with “Pain With an Anchor,” a standout from 2021’s Hushed and Grim.

Of course, replacing Hinds means more than playing dazzling psychedelic-tinged leads and Eller is seen providing vocals in the video clip below as well.

See the 17-song setlist from the band festival performance with Eller further down the page.

Mastodon, “Pain With an Anchor” (March 9, 2025)

READ MORE: Setlist + Video – Primus Play First Show With New Drummer

Those who are among Eller’s half a million followers on YouTube are likely already aware of the guitarist’s love for Mastodon. In several videos across the years, Eller has highlighted the band’s musical genius and the influence Mastodon have had over his own playing.

As Mastodon already stated, touring will continue as planned. Next up is an appearance at the Sonic Temple festival in May, followed by a U.S. tour with Coheed and Cambria and Periphery that stretches from May 10 through June 8.

Other festival stops will take place in Canada and overseas, including the Back to the Beginning concert in the U.K. with Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.

Mastodon Setlist – March 9, 2025 (At Tool Live in the Sand Festival)

01. “Pain With an Anchor”
02. “Crystal Skull”
03. “Black Tongue”
04. “I Am Ahab”
05. “Megalodon”
06. “Ember City”(First time since 2019)
07. “Tread Lightly” (First time since 2016)
08. “Ghost of Karelia” (First time since 2019)
09. “The Motherload” (First time since 2020)
10. “The Crux”
11. “Pushing the Tides”
12. “More Than I Could Chew”
13. “All the Heavy Lifting” (First time since 2015)
14. “Spectrelight”
15. “Mother Puncher”
16. “Steambreather”
17. “Blood and Thunder”

via setlist.fm