SOUNDWAVE Organizer Claims AVENGED SEVENFOLD Refused To Play During The Day

December 16, 2010

AJ Maddah, who is responsible for organizing Australia's Soundwave festival, has slammed AVENGED SEVENFOLD for allegedly refusing to play during the day or clash with festival headliners IRON MAIDEN, despite being billed in tenth place on the lineup poster.

In a series of comments posted on Twitter, Maddah said, "AVENGED have decided, despite having originally confirmed a mid-afternoon spot, that they are now unwilling to play unless it is night time. At the same time, they are refusing to play at the same time as MAIDEN… In other words, they want MAIDEN to play in the afternoon!

"While AVENGED are a massive band, having sold around 8,000 copies of their new album nationally, I won't be able to move MAIDEN's time slot. I have now reached the point where I can no longer mess around 70 other bands and 180,000 ticket holders to appease this band's nonsense. I have every expectation that they will go back on their agreement and cancel."

Earlier today, AVENGED SEVENFOLD issued a statement confirming that it has decided to pull out of Soundwave, explaining that "the band decided that they could not offer fans the live experience they have come to expect and didn’t want to disappoint them. AVENGED SEVENFOLD will return to Australia soon to headline their own tour."

Soundwave festival dates are as follows:

Feb. 26 - Brisbane, Showgrounds
Feb. 27 - Sydney, Eastern Creek Raceway
Mar. 04 - Melbourne, Showgrounds
Mar. 05 - Adelaide, Bonython Park
Mar. 07 - Perth, Steel Blue Oval

"Nightmare", the fifth album from AVENGED SEVENFOLD, sold 162,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at the top of The Billboard 200 chart.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's self-titled fourth album opened with 94,000 units back in November 2007, nearly three times what its 2005 effort, "City of Evil", sold in its biggest week on the chart.

"Nightmare" was completed after the death of drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who passed away last December following an overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol.

The band recruited DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy to play on the new album and all the band's 2010 tour dates. Portnoy has since been relieved of his duties and will not be accompanying the group on its upcoming tours.

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