It appears that all the hoopla surrounding the resurrection of one of Australia's favorite bands still wasn't enough to make New Zealanders go out en masse and buy tickets, as INXS announced it is canceling the four-city tour it had lined up with singer Jon Stevens.

In a statement issued by the band's production company on Wednesday, slow sales were indicated as the reason for calling the concerts off.

Unfortunately, despite everyone's best efforts and extensive promotion by the various band members and Jon Stevens on TV, radio, and in the nation's press, the shows have fallen victim to the current market conditions here, which have seen similar cancelations in recent weeks," the statement read. "There seems to be a very serious problem facing the local industry at present, and how this impacts on future tours to New Zealand remains to be seen.

In the same statement, a spokesperson for the band added, "Everyone is extremely disappointed the concerts

will not be going ahead, but the promoter's decision is to cancel, and there is nothing we can do to change that decision.

Sources in Australia told MTV News that the promoter was not prepared to retain the tour unless the dates were sellouts, or near-sellouts, due to the high costs involved in the outing.

Ticketing reps initially told buyers that the band was canceling in order to record a CD. The statement confirmed that INXS, presumably with Stevens, will now head into the studio, but sources say the project remains at the demo stage.

INXS announced that Stevens, a New Zealand native, would be joining the surviving group members as a guest vocalist back in July (see [article id="1430339"]"INXS To Tour Down Under"[/article]), standing in for the late Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997 (see [article id="1430359"]"INXS Frontman Michael Hutchence Found Dead"[/article]).

In other INXS news, another book about Hutchence is scheduled

for release this fall. "Just A Man" by Patricia Glassop, the estranged ex-wife of Michael's father, Kelland, and Glassop's daughter, Tina, is available for advance orders from Amazon.com's U.K. site.

Meanwhile, it appears that the long awaited tell-all book on Hutchence by Vince Lovegrove will not see the light of day in the U.S., thanks to successful legal action launched by Hutchence's partner, Paula Yates. Yates won a libel suit in June after arguing that allegations in the book caused serious injury to her reputation. The amount of the award was not disclosed.