Megadeth pull out of Soundwave

Another major act has pulled out of Soundwave 2014, with Megadeth announcing this morning they will not be playing at the touring festival.

Dave Mustaine, frontman of the metal icons, posted a short note to the band’s Facebook page this morning, citing the usual “circumstances beyond its control”, although AJ Maddah had taken to his Twitter feed an hour earlier to suggest that Mustaine was attempting to “exhort” him.

In a string of messages, some of which were replies to fans’ queries, Maddah placed blame for the cancellation squarely with Mustaine.

“Sometimes you have to take one on the chin for the fans and for the sake of preserving the show…” Maddah wrote cryptically this morning at 8:18am, before elaborating the issue was a “SW artist making ridiculous demands ’or I’ll cancel’” when asked whether this was Big Day Out related.

“I don’t like being asked to lie. Nor do I like being extorted. But at the same time I don’t want to lose an act off the festival”, he added, mere moments before retweeting Mustaine’s announcement – which was made shortly after 9am.

“They just took the decision out of my hands” Maddah wrote minutes later, adding that there won’t be a replacement this close to the festival: “Mastodon are a worthy headliner for the metal stage and tbh [to be honest] a bigger band at this point.”

Despite swipes such as, “We have done everything they have asked except lie to the fans”, when asked whether he will tell fans the truth about why Megadeth cancelled, Maddah says he is currently “trying to decide on that. Not sure if it is the right thing to do.”

The genesis seems to be an announcement on Soundwave’s website last Wednesday, which stated: “At the request of Megadeth, Newsted [the group fronted by ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted] will not be playing the below sidewaves and instead will be replaced by Whitechapel.” 

Megadeth’s cancellation stated explicitly that “Megadeth’s decision is unrelated to the fact that Jason Newsted is performing at Soundwave,” with Mustaine adding “Jason and I spoke recently and continue to be friends.”  Still, if, as Soundwave claim, Megadeth made this request to drop Newsted as the support act for their ’sidewave’ show, perhaps the group were unhappy with being outed as having requested this, and were asking Maddah to backpedal. This may be the lie Maddah claimed to have been asked to tell.

Megadeth’s cancellation follows that of Stone Temple Pilots (mk. II) less than a fortnight ago.

Soundwave kicks off Saturday, February 22, in Brisbane, at the RNA Showgrounds.