Newsted were planning to travel to return to the road for new dates, including a stint on Australia's famed Soundwave Festival, but according to a new posting from frontman Jason Newsted, those shows will not be happening. Newsted confirmed the rumored cancellations of their scheduled February and March dates.

It's been an odd month for Newsted, who found themselves surprisingly in the headlines when their removal from Megadeth's Sidewave shows in Australia led to a dust up between the Megadeth and the Soundwave organizers. Megadeth were upset after it was suggested that the band was to blame for Newsted being removed from their Sidewave dates. A rep for Dave Mustaine stated that wasn't the case. Megadeth ended up pulling out of their own Soundwave and Sidewave shows.

Whether that has anything to do at all with Newsted pulling out of their Australian shows is not known. However, according to Newsted's newly issued statement on the cancellation of their shows, there appears to be something more serious at play in the decision. His statement, as posted on his Facebook page, reads as follows:

NEWSTED METALHEADS- Due to private and personal circumstances, we sincerely regret to inform you that The NEWSTED Band is unable to perform in February & March as scheduled...Our deepest apologies for any inconvenience to you. We are all gutted by this turn of events. Our hope is that we will have another opportunity to share our Heavy Music with you all again sometime in the near future. I'm sorry, Sisters & Brothers, We were really looking forward to these shows too... L I S T E N T O M E T A L J

Just last week, Newsted had posted that the band has just begun the first full-day of pre-production rehearsals for their 2014 tour and were looking forward to "blasting some tunes loud as f---!!!"

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