DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
It was a phone call Mastodon had been dreading for months. “We’re cancelling your tour,” came the instruction from a friend working in the office of Rick Sales Entertainment Group, the Los Angeles-based management team responsible for overseeing the quartet’s business affairs, alongside those of Slayer, Gojira, Ghost and more. “And you guys need to come to LA right now.”
As summer 2018 unfolded, Bill Kelliher, Brent Hinds, Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor were increasingly, painfully aware that this day was coming. But that knowledge did nothing to prepare the four members of Mastodon for the almost physical hurt each one of them experienced as they listened in silence to developments of the most unwelcome kind. In an August 30 statement that broke news to fans and media outlets of the cancellation of their scheduled autumn tour with Dinosaur Jr., the band initially cited “a critical situation” affecting “a member of the Mastodon family”. Two days later, in an open-hearted posting on Instagram, guitarist Hinds would be more specific, revealing that the group’s long-time manager and close friend Nick John, “the most kind and beautiful being”, had been stricken by pancreatic cancer and was in need of “very strong amazing vibes”.“He is withering away,” the guitarist wrote, “and taking a little bit of me with him.”
“It feels like someone always has to die for us to make a record.”
Brent Hinds
Within the week, US music industry resource shared the news that Nick John had
