During a recent Nine Inch Nails concert in Las Vegas, NIN project leader Trent Reznor took the opportunity to pay tribute to his friend, concert photographer Andrew Youssef, whom doctors recently told has months to live, by FaceTiming with him on his iPhone on stage.
Youssef is an acclaimed concert photographer, having shot the likes of Black Sabbath and Dinosaur Jr to Cold War Kids and Depeche Mode, continuing his trade even after doctors diagnosed him with Stage IV colon cancer, while also maintaing a blog at OC Weekly.
Youssef, an ardent fan of Nine Inch Nails, would frequently reference the band in his columns. After frontman Reznor caught wind of this, the two developed a friendship, eating lunch while talking Breaking Bad together every day, while NIN prepared for a run of September arena shows.
Despite his “dwindling energy supply,” Reznor invited Youssef to two NIN shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas respectively. While Youssef made it to the LA show at the Staples Center, he was unable to make the latter, forcing Reznor to find other means for his friend to experience the show.
As Consequence of Sound reports, while on stage at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Reznor grabbed his iPhone and connected with Youssef via FaceTime, holding up his phone to the crowd as they cheered Youssef’s name. Reznor then dedicated the track, In This Twilight, to his friend.
Readers can watch a recording of the incident below.
(Via Consequence of Sound)
Watch: Nine Inch Nails – In This Twilight Live at The Joint, Las Vegas (16/11/13)
Tonight's show goes out to our FRIEND @Amateurchemist. Wish you were here, man.
— Trent Reznor (@trent_reznor) November 16, 2013
