The War on Drugs celebrated their annual Drugcember to Remember residency at Philadelphia club Johnny Brenda’s last week by welcoming special guests Joe Walsh, the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Real Estate’s Martin Courtney and founding member Kurt Vile at various points throughout.
On Dec. 20, Vile was part of a War on Drugs throwback by joining frontman Adam Granduciel and company for “Arms Like Boulders” from their 2008 debut album Wagonwheel Blues — the only studio effort to which he significantly contributed before starting his solo career. He also lent a hand on covers of Bill Fay’s “Pictures of Adolf Again” and R.E.M.’s “Country Feedback.”
Although Vile hadn’t played live with the band in around 15 years, he was joined in June by Granduciel for a surprise performance of “Hunchback” at Los Angeles venue the Hollywood Palladium.
Walsh first showed up on Dec. 19 to jam on his solo cuts “Rocky Mountain Way” and “In the City” plus the Drugs’ signature “Under the Pressure,” and then returned the next night for the same three-pack of tunes. After the first night, he called the Drugs “one of my favorite bands” on Instagram.
Finn also appeared Dec. 19 for takes on his solo tunes “Bethany” and “Postcards,” as well as Bob Dylan’s “Sweetheart Like You,” while Courtney aided covers of Gene Clark’s “From a Silver Phial” and Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love” the night before.
Meanwhile, the War on Drugs are at work on the follow-up to 2021’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore, which fulfilled the contract they signed with Atlantic in XX. The group’s first three albums were released by Indiana indie Secretly Canadian.
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