The reunited Jane’s Addiction’s concert in Boston ended prematurely Friday after singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro onstage and mid-song.
As video of the show revealed, during a performance of “Ocean Size,” Farrell became agitated for an unclear reason, walked toward Navarro, and rammed his shoulder into the guitarist’s back. An aggressive and still-angry Farrell then continued to yell at the perplexed Navarro, with the singer ultimately landing a right hook to his longtime bandmate’s shoulder:
“What the fuck?” Navarro questioned as a crew member held back Farrell; when the singer attempted to sidestep the crew member and blitz Navarro again, two more crew members and even bassist Eric Avery ran over to restrain Farrell and whisk him backstage. Navarro finally left the stage as well, and the concert ended after 11 songs, which is three or four songs less than a typical show so far through the Jane’s Addiction now-threatened reunion tour.
According to Variety, whatever happened between the bandmates onstage in Boston had been simmering since the “Core Four” lineup’s first tour together in 14 years launched in August. At previous stops, Farrell’s long-winded bantering with the crowd has made Navarro visibly frustrated onstage. Variety also notes that several concert reviews mentioned that Farrell consumed a bottle of red wine onstage throughout the performance.
However, none of the early incidents — including a pair of troubled New York City shows earlier in the week — presaged what happened in Boston: JamBase reported that the issue began during “Mountain Song,” with Farrell yelling at Navarro. The bickering continued through the next song “Three Days” and culminated with the “Ocean Size” punch.
Jane’s Addiction has not yet commented on the confrontation, and Avery’s Instagram – which has frequently posted while the band’s been on the road – hasn’t mentioned the incident either. However, Farrell’s wife Etty wrote a long explainer on social media that broke down the situation.
“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,” Etty Lau Farrell wrote.
“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. But 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.”
Etty added that a confrontation also occurred backstage between Farrell and Avery, who “put Perry in a headlock and punched him in the stomach three times.”
“Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour – he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried,” Etty added of the scene backstage. “Eric, well he either didn’t understand what descalation [sic] meant or took advantage of the situation and got in a few cheap shots on Perry.”
Liam Gallagher, an expert on intra-band bickering, tweeted in response to the Jane’s Addiction fight video, “There attitude stinks.” When a fan quipped that a similar incident would happen between Liam and Noel during the Oasis reunion tour, Liam responded, “I don’t think so we’re very professional these days we’re go blow your minds.”
The Jane’s Addiction reunion tour is — for now — slated to continue Sunday night in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The trek itself is scheduled to conclude October 16 in the band’s native Los Angeles. This tour marked the first time in 14 years that the band’s “Core Four” lineup — Farrell, Navarro, Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins — had toured together, and comes after Navarro temporarily left the band amid a lengthy battle with long Covid.