Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner Has A Coat Check Named After Her

As you might recall, Japanese Breakfast‘s Michelle Zauner used to live in Philadelphia. Pre-fame, one of the odd jobs she held was working the coat check at Union Transfer, one of the city’s music venues. Now, to commemorate a sold-out five-night show run at that venue in support of her album Jubilee, the venue has named its coat check after Zauner.

“MICHELLE ZAUNER COAT CHECK!!!” Zauner wrote on Instagram. “Thank you [owner Sean Agnew] and [Union Transfer] for commemorating our historic five night run in Philly with the most memorable present of all. The coat check I used to work when the venue first opened has now been enshrined as my coat check. I love Philly the most.”

Aside from the coat check’s new name, it now features a plaque that reads, “May everyone who works in this room go on to sell out five nights at Union Transfer,” followed by the dates of the concerts.

A Reddit user who says they attended one of Japanese Breakfast’s Philly shows also shared a really nice anecdote from the night, writing:

“[Zauner] told a story about working coat check there and how she allowed a customer to get change for a fake $100 bill (unbeknownst to her). She got in trouble and was responsible for covering the missing money out of her shift money. […] The owner of Union Transfer, Sean Agnew, stepped in and paid it for her. On Saturday, she brought Sean out on stage to say thank you and (I believe) returned the money that he had spotted her. So cool.”

Jubilee is out now via Dead Oceans. Get it here.

Leave a Comment