Seattle Band Banned from NHL Game After Singing Song with Dig at Jeff Bezos

Seattle band Who Is She? was banned from performing more shows at Climate Pledge Arena after making cracks at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ expense.

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The group, which is comprised of Tacocat, Chastity Belt, and Lisa Prank band members, was set to be the house band at several Seattle Kraken NHL games over the weekend. But that all fell away after the group covered a Le Tigre song and replaced lyrics that took aim at Bezos.

Amazon has the naming rights at Climate Pledge Arena. Rumors in the city are that Bezos may purchase the Seattle SuperSonics (if the team ever comes back) and so his association with the arena is very strong.

On Wednesday (January 25), while the group was playing for the crowd, they covered Le Tigre’s “My My Metrocard.” The band replaced the lyrics with the local language “My My Orca Card.”

Those weren’t the only lyrics they changed. The band also sang: Oh no, Jeffrey Bezos / He’s such, a total jerk / Shut down, all the bookstores / Billionaires do not work.

After singing the song, Who Is She? (a trio with band members Robin Edwards, Bree Mckenna, and Julia Shapiro) was not allowed to return for their previously scheduled gigs at the arena.

“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,” Who Is She? tweeted on Friday. “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!”

The Kraken reportedly told the band that “leadership decided you’re not a good fit for hockey,” the band told Stereogum.

“We do not believe in censoring those artists, as is reflected by the variety of acts who perform at Climate Pledge Arena,” Kraken Chief Marketing Officer Katie Townsend told GeekWire on Friday. “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, and we require our artists are professional, punctual, and avoid consuming alcohol during their performance. As such, Who Is She? will not be playing the next two games. We wish them well.” 

The Le Tigre song “My My Metrocard” was released in 1999 and was pointed at the then-mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani. Oh fuck Giuliani / He’s such a fucking jerk / Shut down all the strip bars / Workfare does not work, the band sang on the track.

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

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