The Seattle band Who is She? claims the Seattle Kraken disinvited them from their gig at Climate Pledge Arena because of lyrics in a song that slams Amazon owner Jeff Bezos.
According to the band, the Kraken decided to part ways with them after they realized that they were playing a modified version of Le Tigre’s “My My Metro card,” which in their version includes lyrics that poke fun at the billionaire by saying “Oh, no Jeffrey Bezos / He’s such a total jerk / Shut down all the bookstores / Billionaires do not work.”
“In an unfortunate turn of events, apparently we are not welcome back at Jeff Bezos’ Climate Pledge Arena for tonight and tomorrow’s hockey games,” said the band on social media. “Glad we got to play our take on this [Le Tigre] song, we had a blast. Sorry to anyone who was hoping to see us play. Go Kraken!”
In an unfortunate turn of events, apparently we are not welcome back at Jeff Bezos’ Climate Pledge Arena for tonight and tomorrow’s hockey games. Glad we got to play our take on this @letigreworld song, we had a blast. Sorry to anyone who was hoping to see us play. Go Kraken! pic.twitter.com/AfX4tfwvm3
— Who is She? (@whoissheband) January 27, 2023
“Since it’s a cover song, our intent was to come up with a good couple lines to replace the 1999 Le Tigre lyrics to make it more specific to Seattle,” they told the Seattle Times.
The Kraken confirmed that the band is no longer playing at Climate Pledge Arena but implied that it was because they got drunk and rowdy.
“The Seattle Kraken welcomes a variety of artists to play at our games and we do not believe in censoring those artists, as is reflected by the variety of acts who perform at Climate Pledge Arena,’ the team said in a statement. “However, we reserve the right to part ways early with an act if their behavior does not meet the professional standards we expect. We also must ensure that the act is appropriate for the family audience that attend our games. This decision was not related to the band’s choice of song. We require that our artists are professional, punctual and avoid consuming alcohol during their performance.”
For their part, the band denied the charge, telling the Seattle Times: “We were not drunk, and saying that we were would be a lie. We imagine that’s why the Kraken’s carefully worded PR statement only implies that we were rather than actually accusing us. We will admit, however, that after we were fired, we did drink the 5 Coors Lights we had previously avoided in the green room fridge.”
Not only does Amazon have naming rights to the arena, but Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is a minority owner of the Kraken.
[Daily Mail, Seattle Times, Who Is She?]
