Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena staged its first event yesterday (Tuesday) as hometown rock heroes the Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie played a concert in what was intended to be a soft opening ahead of the main events to come.
Home of the 32nd NHL ice hockey team Seattle Kraken, and four-time WNBA women’s basketball champion Seattle Storm, the 18,000-seat privately financed sports and entertainment arena broke ground in December 2018 and has undergone a transformation to create a brand-new arena under the historic roof.
Opening week activities have been designed to celebrate the work of the thousands of construction, trade and craft workers who have worked on the project and honour community partners and neighbours in Seattle.
The opening week also seeks to celebrate the vitality of Seattle Center as it approaches the 60th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair, in April 2022. Climate Pledge Arena’s opening week includes several large-scale and high-profile events, leading up to Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and the grand opening concert featuring British band Coldplay.
The Kraken will then play their opening NHL game at the venue on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. Yesterday’s concert had been billed as a ‘A New Way Home’ for the Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie.
Climate Pledge Arena and the Kraken had marketed the show as private concert, with invitations going out to partners, people who have been involved in the building of the venue and the bands’ dedicated fan clubs.
A percentage of the proceeds from the concert are set to benefit the team and arena’s philanthropic arm, One Roof Foundation, as well as Real Rent Duwamish and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, charities picked by the two bands.
Image: Climate Pledge Arena
