“I sped everything up a little bit, just kicked them in the *** a little”: Dave Lombardo looks back on the day he drummed in Metallica

Metallica with Dave Lombardo on drums in 2004
(Image credit: Jo Hale/Getty Images)

Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has looked back on the day he drummed for Metallica.

In 2004, Lombardo, along with late Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison, performed with the California heavy metal superstars during their headline show at Leicestershire’s Download festival 2004. The band’s founding drummer Lars Ulrich had been taken ill earlier that day.

Now, talking on ex-Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s podcast with his wife Paula, Lombardo says he sped up the songs he played with Metallica, Battery and The Four Horsemen, during rehearsal. He adds that his playing style “kicked them in the ass a little”.

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“I was grateful. I was awesome,” Lombardo says with no false modesty (via Blabbermouth). “I have a picture in a frame, personalised frame, with all their names and everything, saying how grateful they were that I came up, I stepped up and helped them.”

He continues: “One of the real special moments was in the rehearsal. We were in one of those – I guess it was a small portable rehearsal room. They have a drum set in there, they’ve got their amp, they jam, get warmed up, get ready. And we were in there, and I could see their excitement when I was playing the song. They were really into it.

“And I kind of sped everything up a little bit, just kicked them in the ass a little. And it was fun, man. It was that moment that was really special.”

Lombardo then remembers the set proper, calling it a “challenge”. “[It was a] exciting, fun, grateful moment in history that will never be repeated again,” he elaborates.

“Some of Kirk’s [Hammett, guitarist] commentary, which I’ll keep private, was really, really funny and very complimentary and very kind from them. I have nothing but respect for those guys. I have absolute respect.”

In a later interview, Ulrich explained his absence from Metallica’s Download show, saying he’d suffered an anxiety attack earlier in the day.

“We’d had a heavy touring schedule in Japan, Europe, America and Australia,” he said. “In the midst of that there were things that had come unravelled in my personal life – my family and my marriage and stuff.

“I’d had a lot of late nights and early mornings. So I woke up in Copenhagen on the Sunday morning [the day of the show], had brunch with 14 in-laws and cousins and then I got on the plane.

“I was exhausted. It was pretty fucking scary to be in a little fucking metal tube at 41,000 feet. I’ve never had anxiety attacks, or any kind of stress attacks, ever.”

Slayer frontman Tom Araya has since joked that he thought Lombardo was going to join Metallica full-time. He also said that their set with his band’s drummer made Metallica sound “a lot more like what Metallica should sound like”.

Ultimately, Lombardo would leave Slayer in 2013. The band continued with Paul Bostaph behind the kit. They retired in 2019 but announced their return last year and have five shows booked for this year, including a slot at Black Sabbath’s star-studded Back To The Beginning event in Birmingham in July.

Slayer are also booked to play their first headlining shows since 2019, which will take place at Blackweir Fields in Cardiff on July 3 and Finsbury Park in London on July 6. Amon Amarth, Anthrax, Mastodon, Hatebreed and Neckbreakker will support.

Since his Slayer departure, Lombardo has manned the kit for a host of bands, including the Misfits, Mr Bungle, Dead Cross, Testament and Suicidal Tendencies. He co-helms the project Venamoris with Paula and the pair released their album To Cross Or To Burn last month.

Dave and Paula Lombardo on Venamoris, Metallica, & The Big Four – Metal Stories & Musical Journeys - YouTube Dave and Paula Lombardo on Venamoris, Metallica, & The Big Four – Metal Stories & Musical Journeys - YouTube
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Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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