After bringing Roger Daltrey, Iggy Pop, Eddie Vedder, and Warren Haynes to The Capitol Theatre this time last year, famed producer Andrew Watt and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith had a lot to live up to for this year’s rock n’ roll holiday circus. With a house band featuring members of Guns N’ Roses, Smith and Watt welcomed a revolving door of rock stars to The Capitol Theatre, including Eddie Vedder, Bruno Mars, Anthony Kiedis, Brandi Carlile, and YUNGBLUD.
Billed as The Dirty Bats, the house band consisted of GNR’s Slash and Duff McKagan on guitar and bass, Smith on drums, and Watt on rhythm guitar. Ozzy Osbourne-anointed British rock singer YUNGBLUD opened the show with a tribute to The Prince of Darkness on Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs” before getting the party going with The Rolling Stones‘ “Start Me Up”. The star power extended from the stage to the crowd, as actor Leonard DiCaprio was spotted watching from his own Statler and Waldorf box.
There was plenty of classic rock love in Port Chester, NY, last night, as Brandi Carlile stepped into Robert Plant‘s formidable shoes for Led Zeppelin‘s “Black Dog” along with her own “The Story”. The tributes kept coming, as Smith’s Chili Peppers bandmate Anthony Kiedis appeared for Motörhead‘s “Ace of Spades”, donning a replica Lemmy hat before stripping off his long coat and t-shirt for a proper shirtless tribute to Iggy Pop on The Stooges‘ “Search and Destroy”.
Breaking from the cover-heavy setlist, Eddie Vedder came out for a string of Pearl Jam songs, including “Corduroy”, “Better Man”, and “Wishlist”. The grunge icon had to include one tribute, though, and nodded his short-brimmed Western hat to OG punks, Dead Boys.
Though each of the guest singers is a headliner on their own, global pop star Bruno Mars brought the show home. After getting some more Led out with “Whole Lotta Love”—featuring some fierce Jimmy Page work from Slash—Mars ran through “Roxanne” by The Police, Jimi Hendrix‘s “Fire”, and Michael Jackson‘s “Dirty Diana” before capping it off with Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. The entire cast of special guests then returned to close out the show with a bench-clearing “Johnny B. Goode”.
Check out video highlights from the all-star Dirty Bats show at The Capitol Theatre with Eddie Vedder, Bruno Mars, Anthony Kiedis, Brandi Carlile, and YUNGBLUD. Carlile will be back at The Cap tonight for Steve Earle‘s annual John Henry’s Friends autism benefit concert, also featuring Margaret Glaspy, Larry Campbell, and Teresa Williams. Find tickets here.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Setlist: The Dirty Bats | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 12/11/25
Set: War Pigs (Black Sabbath) [1], Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones) [1], Black Dog (Led Zeppelin) [2], The Story [2], Ace of Spaces (Motörhead) [3], Search and Destroy (Iggy and The Stooges) [3], (Unknown song) [4], Corduroy [4], Better Man [4], Wishlist [4], Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys) [4], Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin) [5], Roxanne (The Police) [5], Fire (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) [5], Dirty Diana (Michael Jackson) [5], Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) [5], Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
[1] w/ YUNGBLUD
[2] w/ Brandi Carlile
[3] w/ Anthony Kiedis
[4] w/ Eddie Vedder
[5] w/ Bruno Mars
Notes: Billed as “The Dirty Bats,” the house band consisted of Slash on lead guitar, Duff McKagan on bass, Andrew Watt on rhythm guitar, and Chad Smith on drums