During a new interview with Knotfest.com, SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor reflected on drummer Joey Jordison‘s performance with METALLICA when Lars Ulrich was unable to appear at the Download festival in England in June 2004. SLAYER‘s Dave Lombardo also filled for Ulrich during the performance.
Corey said: “We were back there with [Joey], watching it… It was so surreal to watch Joey playing with [METALLICA], because we all grew up listening to them. And Joey was sh*tting bricks. I mean, he [had] his mask on, but every time he’d come back and he would pull his mask off, he would just be, like, ‘How am I doing? How am I doing?’ I’m, like, ‘You’re f*cking killing it.’ Me, Paul [Gray, then-SLIPKNOT bassist], Clown [SLIPKNOT percussionist], we were all standing there f*cking cheering him on. And they ended up throwing different songs at him that they hadn’t rehearsed. They threw all the MISFITS sh*t at him, and he f*cking knew it. They would have probably kept him up there all night if they could have. He played the majority of the set.
“That, to me, was such a f*cking amazing moment for him that it was cool to be back there sharing that with him,” he continued. “It was a special little f*cking — almost like that’s the moment you know you’ve made it. You’re seeing this reflection of respect from arguably your biggest influence, your biggest peer. Them signing off on you like that had to have been f*cking massive for him. And I remember him telling me it was such a blur that he didn’t really remember anything until he watched the video back. And he’s right — that sh*t can go by [very quickly] because you’re so f*cking into it…
“I don’t know if they expected it, but he f*cking went in there and he showed not only the band but all of their fans — not only the level of respect that we have for them and the music but that we can hold our own. And I think that was a big moment. It was a big part of that.”
Jordison played eight tracks from the 11-song set, with Lombardo and Ulrich‘s drum tech Flemming Larsen helping with the remaining cuts.