Sul sito del Wacken Open Air è stato pubblicato il comunicato stampa con il quale Jon Schaffer si scusa per la mancata partecipazione all'edizione 2003.

Eccolo:
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Hello All,

Regretfully, we will not be able to perform at the festival this year. I'm very sorry that this had to happen but there was really no other choice for the future of the band.
I want you all to have a great time anyway, there's a lot of great acts playing there and I'm sure it will be awesome.

We will see you in 2004!

In Metal,

Jon Schaffer
Iced Earth