Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs has written that he is “really fucked off” after his band were replaced as the opening act the the new Leeds Arena by Bruce Springsteen.

The frontman posted his reaction to the news that Springsteen and his E Street Band will be playing the very first gig at the soon-to-be-opened venue in Yorkshire, claiming that he had understood that Kaiser Chiefs would be the first band to play there. The Bruce Springsteen gig is scheduled to take place on July 24 while Kaiser Chiefs will play the same venue in September.

In a message which has since been deleted from his Twitter page, Wilson wrote: “Really f**cked off with @leeds_arena. They asked us to open the thing then put Elton on the week before and now Bruce.” See above for a screengrab of the tweet, taken shortly before it was removed.


In December 2012, Kaiser Chiefs drummer and songwriter Nick Hodgson announced that he was leaving the band after 15 years to focus on his Chewing Gum record label. A statement from the band at the time read: “We can confirm that Nick has decided not to be in the band any more and that our show at Reading Festival in August was his last as a member of Kaiser Chiefs.”

Bruce Springsteen’s Leeds gig will be part of his 2013 Wrecking Ball tour, a series of shows in the UK and Ireland which will also see the singer performing at London’s Wembley Stadium as well as dates in Glasgow, Cork, Coventry, Limerick and Belfast. Tickets for the gig will go on sale at 9am on Friday (February 22) priced £65. To check the availability of Bruce Springsteen tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.