“I saw these guys play two years ago, and thought, ‘I’d love to be in a band like that.’ Be careful what you pray for”: Joe Walsh joins The War on Drugs as their surprise guitar hero guest for annual benefit show

Fresh from selling off a raft of his unused guitars, the Eagles riff-slinger Joe Walsh has joined The War on Drugs at their annual charity bash.

The alt-rock band has been hosting the benefit show, A Drugcember to Remember, every December since 2018, with proceeds going to The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. The shows – this year at the hybrid restaurant and venue Johnny Brenda’s – see the band playing deep cuts and covers with a host of special guests.

Their shows on the 19th and 20th of December were no exception, with singer-songwriter Craig Finn and their former lead guitarist Kurt Vile getting in on the act. But it's the second set of those two nights that stood out, as Walsh joined a band he adores for a cluster of songs.

The War On Drugs (w/ Kurt Vile, Joe Walsh) Live at Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA - 12/20/2025 - YouTube

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“Sat in with one of my favorite bands last night for A Drugcember to Remember,” Walsh wrote on Instagram after night one, before trying to name the band. “Joe Walsh on Drugs? The War on Walsh? Whatever you call it, let’s do it again tonight?”

Songs played included two Joe Walsh solo tracks, Rocky Mountain Way and In the City. They then welcomed Vile back to the stage as they closed out with their setlist staple, Under the Pressure.

It was a set list that constituted a handful of guitar changes for Walsh, with a sunburst Gibson Les Paul, an all-black Strat – what appears to be a Charvel Pro-Mod S-type – and a semi-hollow PRS, his picks.

“I saw these guys play about two years ago,” he tells the crowd before Rocky Mountain Way. “And I thought, ‘Damn, what a cool band. I’d love to be in a band like that.’ Well, be careful what you pray for.”

Beneath pillars of fairy lights, Walsh and co. dish out the jams in a relaxed setting, and even without planting his foot on the gas, Walsh shows a near-effortless class throughout. His slide guitar playing on Rocky Mountain Way is particularly sumptuous before swapping to his Les Paul mid-song for a bit of talkbox fun.

Walsh has been doing his own bit for charity of late, with his gear auction raising funds for his veteran charity, Vets Aid. It had fundraised over $4M before Walsh's collection of oddball custom Teles and rare prototype axes went under the hammer.

However, it was a score of unexpected guitars that helped add a substantial amount to that figure, including $22,400 for a Zakk Wylde Epiphone LP.