Tennessee metal band Whitechapel have just announced they are pulling out of their upcoming Australian and New Zealand tour, as a part of the Soundwave lineup, due to a family member’s death. The band made the announcement this morning via Facebook.
“Whitechapel unfortunately have to withdraw from upcoming visits to New Zealand and Australia due to the death of an immediate family member,” reads the post. “The band apologies to promoters and the fans for any inconvenience caused and asks for understanding at this time.”
Whitechapel were recently tipped to replace Newsted on a triple Sidewave bill with Megadeth and Volbeat, after Soundwave announced Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine asked for Newsted to be removed from the lineup. Megadeth later denied this accusation and subsequently pulled out of the festival.
As the news of the Whitechapel cancellation is just breaking, Soundwave have yet to comment on how this will affect the festival. It is unknown whether Whitechapel’s withdrawal from the festival will delay the release of revised timetables for the festival, which were expected some time this afternoon.
UPDATE 10:25AM 17/02/14: Guitarist Alex Wade has made a personal statement about the cancellation via Twitter. See the tweet below.
Sorry Australia/New Zealand. It was a rough decision but family comes first always, we will be back another time.
— Alex Wade (@Alexchapel) February 16, 2014
