Rock band Jane’s Addiction announced on Monday that they would cancel the remainder of their reunion tour in the US and Canada days after their singer, Perry Farrell, physically confronted their guitarist at a concert in Boston.
A message posted to Instagram said the band had made “the difficult decision to take some time away as a group”.
Jane’s Addiction, who rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s, were about halfway through their tour of North America when the episode took place Friday. The band played in Dublin as part of their European tour leg in June.
The tour was one of several reunions convened this year by rock bands that had gained cult followings in earlier decades. It was the first tour by the original band members in 14 years, according to Rolling Stone.
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The episode took place at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston. Video captured by concertgoers and verified by Storyful showed Farrell confronting Dave Navarro as the two performed.
Farrell slammed his shoulder into Navarro, then appeared to throw a punch at him before being physically restrained. In the videos, Farrell, who had been yelling vocals into a microphone, shouted at Navarro and then doubled over, appearing agitated.
Navarro shared a statement on his Instagram account on Monday saying that “the mental health difficulties of our singer” were the reason the band had decided it could not go forward with the tour.
The message, which was also signed by the group’s other members, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins, said, “Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative.”
The message ended: “Our hearts are broken.”
On Monday, a representative for Farrell shared a statement from the singer.
“This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologise to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” he said. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behaviour, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, said on Instagram after the concert that her husband had been upset throughout the tour about the band’s sound levels drowning out his vocals. He was suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat, she said.
The tension spilled over that night. “He was screaming just to be heard,” she said in the message. She praised Navarro for keeping calm but also accused Avery of entering the fight and punching Farrell, something which was not caught on video.
Jane’s Addiction formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s and are perhaps best known for the MTV hit Been Caught Stealing from the band’s 1990 album Ritual de lo Habitual. It followed the cult favourite Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and a live album, Jane’s Addiction (1987). The song Just Because (2003) spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, peaking at No 72.
In 1991, Farrell (65) had created the touring festival that would become synonymous with ‘90s alternative rock, Lollapalooza, during which Jane’s Addiction was a headline act.
Jane’s Addiction have periodically held reunion tours, including in 2001. A review in The New York Times at the time described “Perry Farrell strutting in flashy suits and feathered hats as he sang, and the bare-chested Dave Navarro striking classic heavy-metal guitar poses”.
This year’s tour brought together original band members, a rare treat for early fans.
The stop in Boston came more than halfway through the band’s North America tour. Fifteen scheduled shows, including one this past weekend in Bridgeport, Connecticut, were called off as a result of the band’s decision.
Fans reacted to the cancellation message with a mix of disappointment and support for the band for having made the choice to prioritise Farrell’s mental health.
Some concertgoers said there were signs of a problem before Boston’s show. At a concert in New Orleans in late August, Farrell was screeching into the microphone and making strange comments between songs, according to George Ingmire, a fan of the group and a long-time radio producer and DJ who attended.
“He was making comments about New Orleans being a good place to score heroin. I found that offensive. I left halfway through,” Ingmire said in a telephone interview.
“I saw him back in the 1980s,” he added of Farrell. “And it was magical. Maybe he was as much of a mess then, but I doubt it.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
