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By STEVE MASCORD

FINNISH icon Michael Monroe has recounted how he was denied the chance to be the first musical act to perform at Tottenham Hotspurs’ £1 billion stadium.

Monroe was on the bill to open for Guns N’Roses on July 1, which was the first concert scheduled for the plus new home of the world famous soccer club.

But the former Hanoi Rocks man told Hot Metal: “We would have been the first band ever to play at the stadium …. If it wasn’t for the doors being closed.

“We still don’t know why.

“We were supposed to play at 4.30, from 4.30 to five. The doors were supposed to open at 3.30. They didn’t open and we were told they weren’t going to let us play to an empty stadium, of course.

“So we were ready to go at 4.30 and we waited and waited. At five to five someone came to say, OK, out slot went by and we’re not going to play at all because the doors weren’t open.

“For some reason the doors didn’t open until 5.15 or 20 past five and people started pouring in. The other support band also, they were wondering if they were going to play at all and then they played.”

The honour being the first musical act to play at Hotspur instead went to actor and bluesman Gary Clark junior.

The late opening of the gates was later attributed to organisational issues caused by it being the stadiums first concern. Monroe performed the next evening without incident.

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Steve Mascord

Author Steve Mascord

Steve came up with the name of Hot Metal magazine in 1989 and worked for the magazine in its early years. He is HM's editor and proprietor in 2022.

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