Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Loses “Wah-Off” to Mrs. Smith in Live Battle

The stock market may be plunging at a rate not seen in years due to fears over the economic impact of the coronavirus, but if there’s any stock that’s on the rise now, it’s whoever owns the trademark on the classic wah-wah pedal. Google tells me it’s Dunlop. The folks at Dunlop and all those involved with this promo, including Sweetwater, who made the pedalboards, deserve a hearty pat on the back for a job well done on a brilliant marketing scheme! Too bad Dunlop isn’t a publicly traded company…

Anyway, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, widely known for his infamous over-use of the wah pedal, participated in a “wah off” this past weekend with Mrs. Smith to determine once and for all who can use (and abuse) a wah pedal the best. The seven-minute live battle took place at a performance at The Senate in Columbia, SC, where a supergroup known as The Wedding Band, featuring Kirk alongside his bandmate Robert Trujillo, Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane, Doc Coyle of Bad Wolves and others, played a set of covers. Towards the end of the battle, while Smith is wailing away, Hammett exclaims, “I can’t compete with that!” before forfeiting, taking off his guitar, and bowing down to Mrs. Smith, the new, undisputed, heavyweight wah champion of the world.

Watch some fan-filmed footage below, along with a clip of The Wedding Band performing Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”