Nearly 50,000 Metallica fans at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium last night (November 12th) were treated to a surprise cover of “Smoko” by The Chats.
The ‘M72 World Tour’ has treated fans in every city with surprise covers of local acts — Perth featured John Butler Trio’s “Zebra”, Adelaide had INXS’ “Need You Tonight” and The Angels’ “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again”, and Melbourne were privy to “Prisoner of Society” by The Living End.
Brisbane’s turn was nothing short of another iconic Aussie anthem, with the Suncorp Stadium crowd erupting when lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo broke out The Chats’ 2017 hit “Smoko”, with Trujillo handling the tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Watch it below.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen a Metallica/The Chats cross over. In 2021, the Australian pub-rock icons were among 53 collaborators involved in Metallica’s 30th anniversary reissue of their seminal self-titled album.
The Metallica Blacklist featured a massive list of covers, including The Chats’ cover of “Holier Than Thou”. Other contributors to the album included St. Vincent, Royal Blood, Mac Demarco, Rina Sawayama, Phoebe Bridgers, and more.
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Formed in 1981, Metallica has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, generated upwards of 15 billion streams, collected nine Grammys and earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Last year, the metal heroes dropped their 11th studio album 72 Seasons, which debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, for their eighth leader in Australia.
The touring lineup features founding members James Hetfield (vocals, guitar) and Lars Ulrich (drums), plus Hammett and Trujillo, the latter who joined the band in 2003, for the St. Anger album.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ was at the first show of the tour in Perth, and gave it a 4/5 star review.
“So, for their first Australian tour since 2013’s Soundwave jaunt (their 2019 tour was canned when singer/guitarist James Hetfield took himself off to rehab), Metallica served up a career-spanning smorgasbord that played to many of their strengths and delighted those of a certain age whose jaw hit the floor listening to their 1983 debut Kill ‘Em All, right through to younger fans, of which there are many present tonight,” we wrote.
“Metallica could have played another two hours featuring many of the great songs they skipped tonight, but the chosen songs, the show, and the entire spectacle of Metallica live in 2025 was undeniably triumphant.”
The band are en route to Sydney next for their show on November 15th, before heading to New Zealand to play at Eden Park in Auckland on November 19th.
