The 2004 Download Festival was truly a historic event.

Kirk Hammett recalled seeing Dimebag Darrell for the last time at 2004’s Download Festival, and said how the late Slipknot drummer Joey Jordisson was so happy to join Metallica for a performance of “Enter Sandman” that the guitarist could see “he had tears in both of his eyes” beneath his mask.

Twenty years ago, the first Download Festival was held at Donington Park motorsport circuit, Leicestershire, and what grew to become one of the most famous celebrations of rock music in the world has since hosted nearly everyone who was anyone in the rock and metal world. Metallica, of course, is no stranger to playing at Download.

As the thrash giants’ lead guitarist Kirk Hammett says in the recently published anthology of recollections of the festival published by The Guardian, it was sadly also the last place where he saw Dimebag Darrell before the Pantera guitar hero was murdered only months later.

It was the second Download festival ever, held in 2004, and Lars Ulrich was famously absent from his band’s performance as he had been rushed to the hospital just moments before the set began. Kirk recalls being busy looking for a last-minute replacement before Dime dropped in to share a few words of encouragement:

“When stuff like this happens, I don’t know why but the responsibility seems to land on me [laughs]. I couldn’t do anything for the next three hours except talk to drummers.

“I remember seeing Dimebag 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 [before his death that December]. I still regret not taking the time to have a full conversation with him.”

Luckily, ex-Slayer’s Dave Lombardo and Slipknot’s late drummer and co-founder Joey Jordison were well prepared to stand in for Lars. Kirk recalls how Joey was so happy he could see tears of joy beneath the drummer’s iconic mask:

“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 mask [Jordison was still in his Slipknot stage attire] 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.”

You can check out Joey playing “Enter Sandman” with Metallica at the 2004 Download below.