“Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately? Please give some love, stage right, say hello to Mr Ben Eller”: YouTuber makes Mastodon live debut following Brent Hinds’ shock exit – but what’s next for the prog-metal behemoths?

Ben Eller wears a black Dunlop Tortex T-shirt [left] and holds a double-cut electric guitar; [right] Troy Sanders and Bill Kelliher perform onstage with Mastodon.

Mastodon has had quite a week, parting ways with their co-founder and maverick guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds after 25 years. Drummer Brann Dailor appears in public sporting a black eye. YouTuber Ben Eller is drafted in as Hinds’ replacement and performs an epic 17-song set. And the band promises that their 2025 tour cycle will continue unabated.

Lesser bands might have been calling this an extinction level event but the big beasts of progressive metal have not skipped a beat, with Eller making his live debut with the Atlanta, Georgia quartet last night (9 March) at Tool In The Sand, in the Dominican Republic.