Pitchfork

Photo by Lyndsay Siegel 

Mastodon guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds [above right, with Motörhead's Lemmy, center, and bandmate Brann Dailor, left] is receiving treatment in a Las Vegas hospital after suffering what the band's management called "a severe head injury," according to a report from Blabbermouth.net and confirmed by Mastodon's publicist. Hinds sustained the injury following Mastodon's performance of "Colony of Birchmen" (with Josh Homme) on the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, September 9.

While it might be easy to crack wise about MTV or the VMAs in conjecture about what actually happened (unsubstantiated rumor via Blabbermouth is that the injury is the result of "a brutal assault"), the truth is that Mastodon is one of the most thrilling live bands I've had the pleasure of seeing, and they also happen to be very professional and incredibly nice people. So here's hoping for a speedy recovery for Brent.

They may not be too keen on the city after this incident, but Mastodon's lone remaining tour date this year is in Las Vegas at the Vegoose Festival on October 27.