The death of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has led to the cancelation of a local rock music festival in St. Louis. The grunge legends were slated to headline 105.7 The Point’s annual Pointfest at Live Nation’s Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre on Saturday (May 20), but the alt-rock station issued a statement Thursday morning saying the entire event had been called off.
In addition to Soundgarden, the bill was to include Stone Sour, Pierce the Veil, Greek Fire, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Biffy Clyro, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Hush List and Monster Eats Manhattan. The May 20 date was actually the second half of this year’s Pointfest; night one also lost its headliner when Korn dropped out, but the show carried on as scheduled.
“It is with deep regret, we are announcing that due to the sudden passing of Chris Cornell of Soundgarden last night, Pointfest on Saturday is cancelled,” the station said on its website. “105.7 The Point, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, and Live Nation extend our deepest sympathies to the members of Soundgarden, their crew, management, and the Cornell family.”
When reached by phone, The Point promotions manager Matthew Chambers told Billboard the decision to cancel the entire show was not reached lightly. “We decided this was the right thing to do,” he said, given the situation, and the fact that Soundgarden was the night’s anchor. The Emmis-owned station is paying tribute to Cornell by playing blocks of tracks from the singer’s wide-ranging career.
A day before Pointfest, Cornell and Soundgarden were slated to play Rock on the Range, a three-day hard rock festival in Columbus, Ohio. Producers said on Thursday they plan on honoring Cornell’s memory all weekend and that they’ll update plans for Friday’s lineup soon.