Kirk Hammett reflects on the time late SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison played with METALLICA
Back in June 2004, SLIPKNOT‘s Joey Jordison and SLAYER‘s Dave Lombardo stepped in for METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich at the Download festival in England as Ulrich was unable to appear due to exhaustion, attributed to a demanding tour schedule and the end of his seven-year marriage to Skylar Satenstein.
METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett recently reflected on Jordison‘s performance with the band in a new oral history of the iconic U.K. festival, explaining that he spent the hours prior to his band’s Download set seeking out potential replacements for Ulrich. Kirk tells The Guardian: “I couldn’t do anything for the next three hours except talk to drummers.
“I remember seeing Dimebag [late PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN guitarist Darrell Abbott] wave at me from a distance backstage. I looked at him and mouthed, ‘We are completely fucked.’ He came over laughing and just said, ‘You guys have got this.’ And that was the last time I saw Dime. I still regret not taking the time to have a full conversation with him,” referencing the fact that Dimebag was murdered just six months later.
Discussing Joey‘s performance with METALLICA, Kirk said: “Joey could play all sorts of things. I remember saying to him, ‘Bro, you’re gonna have to play a bunch of these tunes tonight.’ He was beside himself, he was so happy. At the end of the set, I turned to Joey onstage, and I asked him if he could play ‘Enter Sandman’. And I saw through his [SLIPKNOT] mask [which he was wearing while performing with METALLICA] that he had tears in both of his eyes. He was crying because it meant so much for him to be playing ‘Sandman’ with us at Download. I’ll never forget that.”
During the set, Jordison played eight tracks out of the 11-song setlist, with Dave Lombardo and Lars Ulrich‘s drum technician Flemming Larsen assisting on the remaining songs.
Years later, Jordison looked back on the experience and mentioned that playing in METALLICA‘s practice room was even more remarkable than the show itself. He described it as a dream come true, being alone with the three band members, just warming up. It was one of the most memorable gigs of his life.
Tragically, Joey passed away in July 2021 at the age of 46, as confirmed by his family. The cause of his death was unspecified, and he is remembered fondly for his contributions to the music industry.
