SEATTLE -- Before fans jammed T-Mobile Park for the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic, they jammed with indie rock folk band The Head and the Heart as part of the Breakaway fan event.
The fan fest, hosted by ‘The NHL on TNT’ and B/R Open Ice, was free, open to the public and scheduled to run for a few hours after the outdoor game between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights. Rock band Fitz and the Tantrums were playing postgame.
“There's a bunch of activations outside, and as you can see walking around here, we have the AstraZeneca activation that benefits the V Foundation for cancer research, and we also have VR Open Ice and the Salmon Celly out there,” said Andre Plaisance, vice president of live events for Warner Brothers Discover Sports. “But the main components are the two concerts, one pregame and one postgame.
“It's a lot of collaboration with local folks. The restaurant here, the Hatback Grill, has been awesome to work with. We worked very closely with the Kraken and the Mariners to put this on from everything from operational risk to public safety, working with the city on street closures and different things."
The Head and the Heart have a unique connection to the Seattle hockey scene. Not only are they based locally, but their bassist, Chris Zasche, began playing hockey 10 years ago and has developed a profound love for the sport.
“I was coming off of a tour, realizing we were going to be home for a while, and I had a buddy that played growing up,” Zasche said. “I was like, ‘Hey, do you want to play hockey?’ He said, ‘Oh, man, I haven’t played since I was a kid.’ I was like, ‘Let’s learn together.’ So, he had played [a little], but I learned from scratch.”