Atlanta heavy metal band Mastodon played their first show following the tragic death of founding member Brent Hinds on Friday night, August 22, at the Alaska State Fair. Hinds passed away in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday, August 21, so the show came just a few days after the sad incident.
At the end of their performance, drummer and vocalist Brann Dailor walked to the front of the stage to give a speech about Hinds and spoke for the band. He gave a beautiful tribute to his fallen bandmate.
Mastodon Pays Tribute to Brent Hinds
“We lost somebody very special to us yesterday. Brent Hinds, 25 years with us as our guitar player, one of the most creative, beautiful people that we’ve ever come across in this world, tragically left us,” he said, as reported by Blabbermouth. “Very, very unfortunate. We loved him so, so, so very much. And 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 and we made a lot, a lot of very beautiful music together. And I think that that’s gonna stand the test of time, evidenced by you people here tonight.”
He added, “So, we will continue to play Brent’s beautiful, beautiful music that he helped us make, that we formed this band together and traveled the world together, slept in a van together, laid our heads down on beds of fucking kitty litter, got way too drunk to remember anything the next day about a thousand, million times over and over again with the love that we shared and the beauty, all the audiences that we played, for all the stages we stepped on.”
Mastodon At a ‘Loss for Words’
He ended the talk stating, “I don’t know. 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 on stage and do this tonight. So that was for fucking Brent, okay?! Thank you guys so much. We will see you real soon. Okay? I’m gonna give you guys some … pieces of wood, okay? We love you.”
Hinds was a founding member of Mastodon and launched the band in 2000. He was with them until this spring, when he and the band went their separate ways. “After 25 monumental years together, Mastodon and Brent Hinds have mutually decided to part ways,” the band stated on their social media at the time. “We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors.”
According to the Atlanta police report, a male riding a Harley Davidson was killed in a crash when a driver of a BMW SUV didn’t yield while making a turn at an intersection. The Fulton County medical examiner’s office has also confirmed that Hinds was the driver of the motorcycle.
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