But Adler needed not to worry. Even during rare, hey-he's-still-human type of mistakes behind the kit, Adler had a sold-out throng of 400-450 metal faithful (according to a staffer) hanging on his every beat and every spoken word during a 75-minute demonstration of eight songs accompanied by storytelling. Filming was not allowed. But afterwards, Adler held a Q&A session and autograph signing in the drum shop located at 9323 Perrin Beitel that's normally closed on Sundays.
Adler won the crowd over with anecdotes, advice and above all, ferocious, make-it-look-easy drumming. After declaring he planned to "hang here till every question is answered, every hand is shook, every baby is hugged and kissed," Adler sat behind his Mapex Blaster set-up and knocked out three popular Lamb of God tunes: Laid To Rest, Redneck and Set To Fail. The guitars pumped through the speakers via Adler's iPod, while the crowd provided the vocals in some spots, none more pronounced than during Laid To Rest's, "See who gives a f---" segment.
But Adler was just warming up. "Those are not as fun as the songs I'll get into later," he said.
Adler shared some tidbits that he started playing drums "comparatively late" at the age of 21 after stints with the guitar, saxophone and piano. Another example was the period of time he nearly quit Lamb of God due to his belief that he wasn't cutting the mustard behind the kit.
"I was overthinking everything," he told Sunday's onlookers. "It had to do with my own insecurities. But I've learned it over 10 years. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. If there's one thing you take away from today, let it be that."
Adler spoke of his main influences, including Godsmack and former Wrathchild America drummer Shannon Larkin and Stewart Copeland of The Police.
"I'm not the most technically skilled drummer," he said. "There are other guys who can play circles around me."
Though Adler said he wasn't accustomed to speaking in front of a large group, admitting, "You don't normally give a microphone to the drummer," he more than held his own with his tales. Adler alternated between playing and speaking at just the right interval lengths so as not to bog down the crowd with too much of one or the other at one time.
Adler then launched into three consecutive songs off Lamb of God's most acclaimed album, 2004's Ashes of the Wake: Now You've Got Something to Die For, The Faded Line, and Blood Of The Scribe. Adler said of the latter: "The band has never played this song live. For me, the idea on this song was to bring in as many influences that I could."
The opening stop on Adler's tour in Salt Lake City lured 730 fans. But while speaking of his non-metal influences, he still made the 400-450 San Antonians who comprised the only Texas stop on the circuit feel unique. Perhaps a bit moreso than intended.
"I've noticed, especially in Texas . . ." Adler started out. When the crowd erupted, Adler cautioned, "Hang on. It's not necessarily a good thing. There's a tendency to be more metal than the next guy. You eat nothing but carrots, eventually you turn orange."
But of course, Adler praised several of his peers in metal, none more than San Antonio guitarist Ron Jarzombek.
"You guys have a national treasure here in Ron," Adler said, before later adding that he hoped to do a side project in the future together. Jarzombek's drummer brother Bobby had planned to be at the clinic but told media last week to say hello to Adler for him. Bobby Jarzombek was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles the night before the clinic to begin laying down drum tracks for Sebastian Bach's next solo record starting today.
Adler wrapped up the playing portion of his stay by tearing into two songs from 2006's Sacrament: More Time To Kill and Requiem, followed by a pair from 2009's Wrath: Dead Seeds and In Your Words. At one point, he let the crowd in on a little secret.
"You may have seen me smile during that song. That's because I screwed up," he said to laughter. "And I wanted you to think I did it on purpose."
If the fans had their choice, the engaging and easy-going Adler never would have departed. But he did leave his Lamb of God followers something to look forward to."I get home on the 17th," he said. "And we start writing the new record on the 18th."
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.