Well, Jane’s Addiction’s reunion is going about as well as one would expect, as the band had to cancel their most recent performance after an on-stage fight. They then called off the remainder of their tour days later.
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During Friday night’s concert in Boston, Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro on stage in the middle of a song. Fan caught footage from the concert shows Farrell walking up to Navarro, who was busy shredding on the guitar, and throwing one punch to his arm before hitting him again.
After crew members intervened, escorting an agitated Farrell off stage, the concert ended after only 11 songs, and an apology from the band’s bassist, Eric Avery.
Historically a fractious band already, Jane’s Addiction split at the height of their popularity in 1991 after organizing and headlining the first-ever Lollapalooza tour. Divided into camps that apparently continue to this day. Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins went on to form the band Porno for Pyros, while Navarro and Avery worked together briefly in a group called Deconstruction. Over the years, the band has reformed several times, usually without Avery, but clearly the tensions continue to remain high.
After the onstage debacle, the band took to their IG story with a “heartfelt apology” and shared they’d be canceling the next concert, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, followed by refund details.
The following day, the singer’s spouse, Etty Lau Farrell, shared footage of Friday night’s events, on IG. “Rather than speculating, I thought to post a first person account of what happened on stage,” the posts caption began. Etty went on to share that her husband was upset about the band’s sound levels drowning out his vocals, which is what led to his assault on Navarro.
Etty went on to commend Navarro for coolly handling the situation, while laying into bassist Eric Avery for throwing “cheap shots” and punches at the singer. Noting Farrell was “a crazed beast” for a half-hour after being led offstage, adding, “he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried.”
Then on Monday, the band once again took to Instagram, sharing the remainder of the tour would be canceled as well.
“To all the fans, The band have made a difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such, they will be canceling the remainder of the tour.” Also repeating essentially they same refund information as the previous.
Navarro may have even offered a hint about the band’s future — or lack of it — in a cryptic social media post on his own account following the band apology, and ahead of the most recent tour cancellation announcement. Posting a photo of himself holding a guitar with a Jane’s Addiction logo on the back, simply captioned, “Goodnight…”
In addition to the band’s Monday announcement, Navarro, Avery and Perkins also shared a joint post, explaining their reasoning for calling off the remainder of the tour.
“Due to a continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to discontinue the current US tour,” the message began. “Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs. We deeply regret that we are not able to come through for all our fans who have already bought tickets. We can see no solution that would either ensure a safe environment on stage or reliably allow us to deliver a great performance on a nightly basis.” Concluding, “Our hearts are broken. Dave, Eric and Stephen.”
Finally, Ferrell himself shared a statement on Monday, via Variety. “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show," he explained. "Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”