The War On Drugs reunited with Kurt Vile this weekend for a live cover of R.E.M.’s ‘Country Feedback’ – watch below.
Adam Granduciel and co. played their annual ‘Drugcember To Remember’ holiday residency at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia last week, culminating in a final show on Saturday night (December 20).
At that show, they were joined by Vile – who was a founding member of the band and played with them from 2005 to 2008 – and they played a version of ‘Country Feedback’, from R.E.M.’s 1991 opus ‘Out Of Time’.
They also covered Bill Fay’s ‘Pictures Of Adolf Again’, and delved deep for a rendition of ‘Arms Like Boulders’, from The War On Drugs’ 2008 debut album ‘Wagonwheel Blues’.
Later in the show, the band were also joined by Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh for versions of his songs ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ and ‘In The City’, while Vile rejoined them for a show-closing ‘Under The Pressure’.
Watch footage from the show here:
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The War On Drugs will be heading to London next summer as part of Mumford & Sons’ BST Hyde Park show on July 4. Marcus Mumford spoke to NME about having them on the bill: “They haven’t played in London for a long time. They’ve inspired so many records and they are a generation-defining band. I’ve been down the wormhole watching their live performances recently. We last played with them at a festival in Montreal a couple of years ago. They were on amazing form. I was gutted that I missed that tour they did with Lucius and The National. Yeah man, I’m going to be ecstatic to watch that.”
The band have also been announced for the 2026 edition of Mad Cool Festival in Madrid, alongside Pulp, Foo Fighters, Florence & The Machine and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
As for R.E.M., Michael Stipe has recently been clarifying some of the more disputed lyrics from ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’.