Almost a week after announcing they were cancelling their Soundwave appearances, Stone Temple Pilots have released a statement saying “scheduling conflict” and not “recording delays” caused their withdrawal from the festival.
“We regret that, due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, our forthcoming tour dates in Australia, the Middle East and Hawaii have had to be cancelled,” the band said on their Facebook page. When their withdrawal from the festival was originally announced, Soundwave representatives said that the recording of STP’s new album was suffering from delays.
“The recording of the new album has now gone beyond schedule, and sadly, the availability of the recording studio, engineers and the producer – or lack thereof – dictates that the band have had to cancel their upcoming engagements,” wrote Soundwave representatives in the initial statement.
However, STP were adamant today on clarifying that this wasn’t the case, while giving very little detail as to the real cause of cancellation. “An initial statement citing ‘recording delays’ wasn’t true – the conflict wasn’t related to recording new STP material,” said the band. “We are deeply disappointed to not be able to perform these shows, and look forward to making them up in the future.”
Stone Temple Pilots were announced on the bill last year, with Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington as the vocalist for the planned tour. The new band managed to record an EP High Rise, released last October, but plans to record a new full-length were put on hold late last year so that Bennington could work on a new album with his main band.
STP have been involved in a protracted legal battle with former lead singer, Scott Weiland, who was sacked and sued in an attempt to prevent him using the band’s name, or even calling himself an ex-member. Weiland counter-sued the band for breach of contract and trademark infringement. Both lawsuits are ongoing.
Australian band The Living End has been announced as Stone Temple Pilots’ replacement. Included with the announcement was the “inner monologue” of the band’s frontman Chris Cheney. “Oh crap there’s cobwebs on my amp and my guitar strings are rusty. Shut up you idiot, quit you’re whining and get your shit together cause TLE are now playing Soundwave 2014.”
