The remainder of the original band Jane's Addiction's reunion tour, the band's first in 14 years, has been canceled. It's a development that seemed inevitable after the world saw footage of an on-stage brawl in which belligerent singer Perry Farrell threw a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro, and then bassist Eric Avery attacked Farrell.
“To all fans, the band has made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such, they will be canceling the remainder of the tour,” read a brief statement posted on social media Monday morning.
The announcement goes on to say that refunds for cancelled dates will be “issued at point of purchase – or if you purchased from a third-party reseller site like StubHub, SeatGeek, etc., please contact them directly.”
Previously, the band canceled its Sunday night show in Connecticut following a physical altercation on stage in Boston on Friday. But reports emerged that the band members had already gone their separate ways over the weekend, with Dave Navarro posting a photo of himself holding a Jane's Addiction guitar on his Instagram account with the simple caption, “Goodnight.”
The confrontation between Pharrell, Navarro, Avery and crew members near the climax of the planned concert at Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston was captured on video by dozens of audience members and widely shared on social media, shocking even some veteran observers who have witnessed their share of tension within the band over the years.
The group’s first official response to the altercation was to issue an apology on Saturday and announce the cancellation of the next show, which was scheduled for Sunday night in Connecticut, without any mention at the time of whether the remaining 14 tour dates on the schedule would go ahead. But Navarro seemed to hint at where things were headed when he posted on his Instagram account on Sunday afternoon simply “Goodbye…” as a caption to a contemplative photo of himself holding a guitar with a large Jane’s Addiction logo on the back.
Although the band members were almost entirely silent after the onstage brawl, Farrell’s wife, Ettie Lau Farrell, was vocal on Instagram Saturday about what happened. While she expressed differing opinions about the other band members’ behavior in the altercation (she appeared to be pro-Navarro and anti-Avery), she didn’t dismiss her husband’s issues, which she described as more mental health than drinking.
In the comments section of her original post about the incident, Etty Lau was blunt, using the term “out of the mood” and adding that Perry's current condition represents the “most devastating mental health condition” she's seen since she's been with him since 1997.
Most of the footage circulating on social media from Boston on Friday night began with the band performing the 11th song in the set, “Ocean Size,” with Navarro taking a guitar solo and Pharrell groaning heavily at the crowd. It quickly became clear in the videos that Pharrell was genuinely angry — though it wasn’t clear about what, from the footage — as he turned toward Navarro and continued the same groan, right in his bandmate’s face. He then slammed his shoulder hard into the guitarist’s, and though Navarro continued to solo for a moment, he quickly raised his hand to try to keep some distance between himself and his angry bandmate. At that point, Pharrell was seen throwing a punch at Navarro, though it wasn’t clear from the footage whether it actually landed.
Once the punch was delivered, three men stepped in to subdue Pharrell, including two who had entered from backstage, as well as Avery. The footage became more blurry at that point, as the stage lights were lowered. Navarro gently placed his guitar on the stage as the three men wrestled with Pharrell. Once the troubled singer was forcibly removed from the stage, the other three members stood up and made silent, emotional gestures to the cheering crowd, hugging each other and giving the peace sign before exiting.
In her Instagram post, Ettie Lau Farrell gave a detailed explanation of why she believed her husband was upset — it had to do with vocal issues that allowed the band to overpower his voice, she said — and why she blamed Avery for “winning the fight,” as she put it, by escalating it. In her account, Avery took advantage of the situation by putting the troublemaker in a headlock and punching him three times in the stomach. That’s something that’s hard to definitively confirm just by watching the video captured by a fan, but it hasn’t stopped fans from debating whether Avery overreacted, as Ettie claims, or was justified in ending the band fight that Farrell started.
In the immediate aftermath of the fight, some fans who attended the ill-fated show correctly speculated that they had just witnessed the abrupt end to the tour, if not to Jane's Addiction for the rest of time.
Despite all the derisive comparisons between the band and its new members, many took seriously any personal concerns that might have haunted the band members, which made their reunion so bitter, with nearly half the tour still to go at the time of the cancellation. More than one review of Jane's Addiction's concerts this month used the word “overdose” to describe Pharrell's on-stage drinking, both in good and not-so-good shows.
Etty Law Farrell insisted that alcohol wasn't the real issue. “Unfortunately, that bottle of wine has become more of a prop these days. I've gotten mad at him a few times because he left a beautiful bottle of wine 3/4 full on stage, when I would have loved to have had a glass after the show.” She then offered her alternative explanation: “Getting out of bed. The most devastating health (since she was the first to take the stage) with him since 1997.”
In her first post, Etty wrote, “There was clearly a lot of tension and animosity between the members… The magic that made the band so dynamic. Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got in Dave's face and body-slammed him… Perry's frustration was growing, night after night; he felt the stage was too loud and his voice was drowning out the band. Perry was suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the front row audience started complaining to Perry, swearing that the band was playing too loudly and they couldn't hear him, Perry lost his temper.”
“The band started Ocean before Perry was ready and counting,” she continued. “The stage volume was so high at that point that Perry couldn’t hear over the thud and vibration of the instruments and by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was just screaming to be heard.” Etty mentioned the “body blow” her husband had delivered to Navarro, though no punch was mentioned. After asking the rhetorical question “Who won the fight?” she replied, “Why, Eric Avery of course.” While Dave kept Perry at arm’s length to defuse the situation, Dan rushed to defuse the situation as well by grabbing Perry. Dave stepped away to take off his guitar. Eric walked over to Perry, backstage, in the dark, behind Dan, put Perry 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 ending the show early.
Following that, she wrote: “Dave still looked so handsome and calm in the middle of the fight. Perry was a crazy beast for the next half hour — he didn’t finally calm down, but just broke down and cried and cried. Well, Eric, either didn’t understand what calming down means or he took advantage of the situation and landed a few cheap shots on Perry.” At the end of her post, she added hashtags that read, in part: “Can’t push a guy any further.” “Dave took the right path.” “Cheap shot.” “Mother Eagle.”
There's clearly a lot more to the story, even if Farrell's wife's account is largely accurate, leaving unanswered questions like whether Farrell went right after Navarro, who seemed surprised, or whether he was upset about sound issues that the guitarist supposedly had no control over.
A review of the band’s Tampa show earlier this month in Creative Loving magazine may have given some insight into where the tension between Pharrell and Navarro lies. “Pharrell spouted off a bunch of nonsense about cow pastures, mushrooms, surfing, living in Florida, and arguing with his brother about politics, among other incomprehensible comments,” the Florida critic noted, while “drinking from an entire bottle of wine throughout the show… At one point, during one of his ramblings, Navarro deliberately played a loud, piercing chord on his guitar, almost to silence Pharrell and get the show back on track.”
Then, in New York City, two rooftop concerts at Pier 51 offered very different levels of performance. The first night of the two shows was bad—according to the band themselves. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have to be honest with you. There’s something wrong with my voice,” Pharrell said. “I can’t get notes out of the blue.” The next day, Avery posted on Instagram: “Looking forward to another chance at this amazing rooftop venue tonight. I’m optimistic we’ll do better.”
On Wednesday night in New York, things actually took a turn for the better, according to a reviewer at JamBase who wrote, “I had seen reports of Pharrell’s condition on Tuesday, so I was apprehensive when Jane’s Addiction came on. All my fears were quickly dispelled as my first experience with Jane’s was a great one. Pharrell sang well, Perkins performed behind the kit, Navarro shone, and Avery solidified the band with his steady guitar work. … Some of (Pharrell’s) stories were catchy and others were long, drinking from a bottle of wine. … However, when it came to singing the songs, Pharrell nailed most of them.”
Jane's Addiction's tour was co-headlining with another veteran band from the 80s and 90s, Love & Rockets. Their tour kicked off on August 9 in Las Vegas and was scheduled to wrap up at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on October 16, where the band had already played a successful show.
The Jeans are said to be largely complete with their album, and there is no word yet on when the album will be released. A single titled “Imminent Redemption” has been released, which is said to be the band's first recording with all of its original members in 34 years.
