Photo Credit: Navier Grimes
After a rocky week on its long-awaited reunion run that culminated in an onstage melee on Friday night, Jane’s Addiction have officially canceled all outstanding tour dates. The celebrated and famously fractious alt-rock quartet made its change of plans known via a post to its Instagram account, after previously scrapping its Sunday, Sept. 15 performance in Bridgeport, Conn. in the wake of its widely-circulated live incident. Between the various explanations offered by the band members, a picture of the tension backstage emerges.
“To all the fans,” the group’s collective cancellation address begins. “The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such they will be canceling the remainder of the tour.” Fans holding tickets to any of the remaining 14 stops planned through Oct. 16 on the band’s tour will receive refunds automatically through their point of purchase, or by contacting third-party sellers like StubHub or SeatGeek.
Beyond the official word from the band’s account guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins have issued a joint statement of their own through a collaborative post, charging vocalist Perry Farrell as the primary instigator in the ensemble’s recent difficulties. “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,” the musicians wrote.
“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. 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.”
Following the band’s Friday, Sept. 13 performance in Boston, which concluded abruptly when Farrell threw a punch at Navarro and was removed from the stage by event staff, the vocalist’s spouse Etty Lau Farrell explained a pattern of tension that built before “the dynamite was lit.” Following her account of what happened in the darkened scuffle, she described her husband’s state after the show: “Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour – he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried.”
Farrell has now issued a statement of his own on the incident: “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show. Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
Jane’s Addiction’s reunion tour–a co-headline tour alongside other ‘90s favorite Love & Rockets–marked the first time that the band has performed with the full original quartet of Farrell, Navarro, Avery and Perkins in 14 years. Navarro returned to the group after a years-long battle with COVID in May, following Avery’s reunion with the group in 2022, which concluded a 12-year walkout–his second in the band’s tumultuous history.
Since arriving on the scene in 1985, the band has broken up twice, and famously fought onstage (much like their Friday altercation) at the inaugural Lollapalooza in 1991–just before their first dissolution. As the band leaves throws in the towel on its highly anticipated reconvening, fans may be staring down the barrel of a third hiatus.
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