After a couple days spent pondering their future, Jane’s Addiction have canceled the remainder of their North American tour and suggested that vocalist Perry Farrell is suffering from mental health issues which have made him dangerous and unpredictable.
“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, posted guitarist Dave Navarro on social media. “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.”
The message, signed by Navarro, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins, included an apology of fans who were looking forward to the remaining shows of the North American tour. “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. Our hearts are broken. Dave, Eric, and Stephen.”
Farrell has not yet commented on the fight that ended Jane’s US tour or any mental issues from which he might be suffering. And no one in Jane’s Addiction has suggested the band will break up.
A recent social media post by Farrell’s wife Etty Lau Farrell implies that Farrell’s meltdown in Boston on September 13, which ended with the singer punching Navarro wasn’t unprovoked:
“Rather than speculating, I thought to post a first-person account of what happened on stage with @janesaddiction last night at the @lenderpavilion in Boston,” she posted on Instagram. “Clearly there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members. the magic that made the band so dynamic. Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got up in Dave’s face and body checked him.”
She continued by telling the backstory that led up to the onstage fight. “Perry’s frustration had been mounting night after night. He felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band. Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night.”
With the explosives in place, Lau Farrell insists Farrell only acted after members of the crowd lit the fuse. “When the audience in the first row, started complaining up to Perry, cussing at him that the band was planning too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it. The band started the song ‘Ocean’ before Perry was ready and did the count-off. The stage volume was so loud at that point, that Perry couldn’t hear past the boom and the vibration of the instruments and by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just be to be heard.”
That’s Far when Farrell yelled, “Fuck you” at Navarro and slammed into his right shoulder. At that point, Navarro held out his arm to distance himself from his singer. “While Dave was keeping Perry at arm’s length to de-escalate the situation. Dan rushed over to de-escalate as well by holding Perry back. Dave walked away to take his guitar off. Eric walked up to Perry, upstage, in the dark, behind Dan, put Perry in a headlock and punched him in the stomach three times. Kevin, crewmember with a long hair with long hair pulled Eric away. Then Eric nonchalantly walked off to the front of the stage to apologize to audience for the show ending early.”
While she didn’t attack her husband’s actions, Lau Farrell defended Navarro’s reaction and placed most of the blame on Avery for punching Farrell. “Dave still looked handsome and cool in the middle of a fight,” she wrote. “Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour – he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried. Eric, well he either didn’t understand what descalation meant or took advantage of the situation and got in a few cheap shots on Perry.”
In the end, maybe Avery won the fight, but if Jane’s Addiction can’t mend fences again, everyone loses.
