MEGADETH has canceled its previously announced Australian tour dates after the promoter allegedly erroneously blamed the band for removing former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted's new project, simply called NEWSTED, off the billing for MEGADETH's "off" dates during this year's Soundwave festival.A MEGADETH representative last week shot down reports that the band was responsible for removing NEWSTED, from the lineup of MEGADETH's Australian tour. A number of news outlets reported that NEWSTED had been booted from MEGADETH's side shows in Sydney and Melbourne while touring Australia on the annual Soundwave festival. Soundwave organizers claimed that Jason Newsted's band was removed from the dates "at the request of MEGADETH." However, according to MEGADETH tour manager Jim Carroccio, nothing could be further from the truth. "Dave Mustaine is not responsible for booting NEWSTED off [the Soundwave festival 'off' dates]," Carroccio told ABC New Radio. "Dave did not put [Jason] on the bill and did not take him off the bill."He added: "Dave submitted a list of bands he was comfortable with and the promoter ignored the list. "Dave and Jason are friends [and] this has blown up into something silly."Earlier today (Sunday, February 9), Mustaine released the following statement via the official MEGADETH Facebook page:"Due to circumstances beyond its control, unfortunately, MEGADETH has to cancel their Australian dates. "MEGADETH's decision is unrelated to the fact that Jason Newsted is performing at Soundwave. Jason and I spoke recently and continue to be friends."Mustaine added in a separate posting an hour later: "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? "[Australian touring mogul and Soundwave promoter] AJ Maddah that I know is a wise and caring man, and I don't know what has happened to my old friend. "My bags are packed, Aussie fans."
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