Phil Demmel, Lamb Of God's go-to fill-in (Phil in?) guitarist and sometimes bassist, is back in the band for three South American shows. Demmel is filling in for Lamb Of God guitarist Willie Adler and you can check out some fan-filmed footage from the Royal Center show on April 25 in Bogotá, Colombia. Demmel's other two shows are on April 27 in Santiago, Chile and on April 29 at the Summer Breeze festival in São Paulo, Brazil.
No official words has come down from the Lamb Of God camp regarding Adler's absence at the South American shows. Demmel explained in a 2022 interview that he was originally asked to be a part of Lamb Of God as a live guitarist just in case either Willie Adler or Mark Morton got sick.
"I was pretty confident with the Overkill songs [when filling in with them]. We had three good rehearsals. I didn't rehearse with Slayer at all. I played two songs at a soundcheck. [Laughs] 'Okay, we're good!' It's like, 'Fuck!' Overkill, we had a couple of days of rehearsal. I had two and a half, three weeks to prepare for that. I felt pretty strong with that.
"The Lamb Of God gig, that was a big deal. They had approached me before their Megadeth states tour last summer and wanted me to learn both parts, Mark and Willie's, just in case one got sick, they didn't want to cancel their tour. That's where I am: I'm their bullpen guy when one of them can't make the shows, I'm ready to go. It's such a high-profile band. I didn't want to go out there and blow it. I wanted the band to sound good. I wanted to keep that pride in what they are and not have a drop-off.
"Willie and I play differently. There's different vibrato in our left-hand and pinkies. I didn't want there to be a drop-off. I wanted people to be not-bummed that he wasn't there. And that's not a slag on Willie. If I went to see one of my favorite bands, let's say Queensrÿche. I want to see [Chris] DeGarmo, I want to see Michael Wilton. No slight against the other dudes, but they better fucking bring it if they're not going to be out there."
