Jane's Addiction abruptly canceled the remainder of its reunion tour after an onstage fight between singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro abruptly ended a Friday show in Boston.
The band “Jane Says” unceremoniously ended its tour, saying it had “made the difficult decision to take some time off as a group,” according to a statement posted on the band’s social media on Monday.
The band's generic statement was followed by a scathing tirade attributed to Farrell's bandmates, pointing to his “mental health difficulties” following his altercation with Navarro during the Leader Bank Pavilion show. On stage, Perry appeared to punch Navarro and the ensuing fight was broken up by stage staff, who separated the musicians.
“Due to an ongoing pattern of behavior and our lead singer Perry Farrell’s mental health issues, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to cut short the current U.S. tour,” guitarist Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins said in a joint statement posted to Instagram. “Our concern for his personal health and safety, as well as our own, has left us no choice. We hope he finds the help he needs.”
The trio said they regret not being able to help their fans who bought tickets, adding that they “don't see any solution that would ensure a safe environment on stage or allow us to put on a great performance every night. We are heartbroken.”
Following the announcement of the cancellation on Monday and a statement from his bandmates, Farrell issued an apology for having reached a “breaking point” that resulted in his “inexcusable behavior.”
“This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, my fans, my family and my friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” Farrell wrote on his Instagram Story. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior and I take full responsibility for how I chose to handle the situation.”
The singers behind “Nothing's Shocking” and “Ritual de lo Habitual” were high school friends who formed the pioneering California pre-grunge band in 1985, fusing each of their metal, punk, new wave and goth influences. They first announced their breakup in 1991 but reunited this year for the first time in 14 years, playing the YouTube Theater in Inglewood last month with the original lineup: Farrell, Navarro, Avery (who opted out of several previous reunion tours) and Perkins.
The band canceled 15 shows less than a month after Live Nation added seven dates to the tour, which also featured co-headliner Love & Rockets. Before canceling the rest of the tour, the band initially apologized to fans on Saturday “for the events that unfolded” on Friday, then canceled a show in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that was previously scheduled for Sunday.
Jane's Addiction was scheduled to play Wednesday in Toronto, followed by several shows in the Midwest and Southern states before moving to the West Coast in October. The band was scheduled to close out the reunion tour with a second performance at the YouTube Theater on Oct. 16.
Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell, posted footage of Friday's encounter on her Instagram account on Saturday, addressing the “tension and animosity” and shedding light on what happened between the two men.
“The magic that made the band so dynamic. Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got in Dave’s face and body slammed him,” he wrote. “Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night he felt the stage volume had been extremely loud and the band was drowning out his voice. Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the front row audience started complaining and Perry cursed him out because the band was planning to play too loud and they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost control.”
Lau Farrell said the band started playing “Ocean” before Perry was ready and the stage volume was so loud that “he couldn’t hear over the din and vibration of the instruments.” By the end of the song, he said, he wasn’t singing — “he was screaming just to be heard.”
The singer, who married Farrell in 2002, also claimed that Avery “won the fight.”
“While Dave kept Perry at a distance to calm the situation, [crew member] Dan rushed to calm the situation and stopped Perry. Dave walked away to take Perry's guitar. Eric approached Perry, upstage in the dark behind Dan, put him in a headlock and punched him in the stomach three times. Kevin, a long-haired crew member, pulled Eric away. Eric then nonchalantly walked to the front of the stage to apologize to the audience for the show ending early.
The aftermath, she wrote, included Navarro still looking “handsome and calm in the middle of a fight” and Farrell looking like “a crazed beast for the next half hour.” She said the singer had a meltdown “and cried and cried.” She also accused Avery of not helping to calm the situation and accused him of taking advantage of her and “[getting] in some low blows to Perry.”
Following the band’s apologies but before the cancellation of their tour, Emmy-nominated actor Walton Goggins jumped into the fray on Sunday with an a cappella version of “Jane Says” posted to his Instagram.
“I'm going to record myself in case they're looking for a new frontman for Jane's Addiction,” the “Justified” and “Fallout” star wrote.
