Megadeth Pulls Out Of Soundwave

Five days before Megadeth made its Feb. 10 cancellation announcement, Maddah tweeted that Newsted, which was supposed to open for Megadeth’s Australian club shows, had been removed at Megadeth’s request. 

Megadeth denied making the request. Reportedly there was pressure on Maddah to retract the tweet. Maddah told his Twitter following he resented being “extorted.”

In canceling the Soundwave appearance as well as club shows in Australia, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine insisted that the band’s pullout “is unrelated to the fact that Jason Newsted is performing at Soundwave.”  

In the statement, Mustaine added, “Jason and I spoke recently and continue to be friends.” Newstead formerly played bass for Metallica, with which Mustaine has had a somewhat rocky relationship since the ’80s.

“All I asked for was an apology for blaming me for something I didn’t do. I am still willing to play, but the promoter would rather not apologize and prefers to say I asked him to lie, which I didn’t. Am I the only one that sees how easy it is to fix this?”

Soundwave begins Feb. 22 in Brisbane, at the RNA Showgrounds.

The previous week, Stone Temple Pilots pulled out of the festival, saying they needed to complete studio work on their new album.