Mastodon saluted late member Brent Hinds at the end of its first show ever in Alaska last night (Aug. 22), a day after the guitarist, who left the band in March, was killed in an Atlanta motorcycle accident. See fan-shot footage from the Alaska State Fair performance below.
“We lost somebody very special to us yesterday. Brent Hinds. 25 years with us as our guitar player,” drummer Brann Dailor said from the stage. “One of the most creative, beautiful people that we’ve ever come across in this this world tragically left us. Very, very unfortunate. We loved him so so so very much. And you know, we had the ups and downs of a 25- year relationship. You know what I mean? It’s not always perfect. It’s not always amazing. But we were brothers to the end and we really loved each other. We made a lot a lot of very beautiful music together.”
“I think that that’s going to stand the test of time, evidenced by you people here tonight,” he continued. “So, we will continue to play Brent’s beautiful, beautiful music that he helped us make. We formed this band together and traveled the world together, slept in a van together, laid our heads down on beds of fuckin’ kitty litter, got way too drunk to remember anything the next day about a thousand million times over and over again.The love that we shared and the beauty, all the audiences that we played for, all the stages we stepped on. We’re just at a loss for words. We’re absolutely devastated and crushed to lose him and to be able to never have him back again. But you guys made it okay for us to come by the stage and do this tonight.”
Mastodon’s only remaining shows of the year will take place Sept. 26 at the Levitation festival in Austin and Nov. 15 in New Orleans as part of a loaded bill also featuring the reunited Acid Bath and Power Trip.
