Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell attacked guitarist Dave Navarro during a bizarre onstage outburst which saw crew members drag him offstage and abruptly ended the band’s Boston concert on Friday night.
Farrell seemed agitated and then told the crowd at the Leader Bank Pavilion “f— you” before marching over to Navarro and throwing elbow jabs at him.
Navarro seemed genuinely confused by what was happening and had held his hand up and calmly walked back as Farrell came towards him.
Farrell had to be restrained by members of the crew and bassist Eric Avery as he continued to throw punches.
Dave Navarro seems genuinely shocked after Perry Farrell attacked him onstage.
YouTube
After the lights dimmed and Farrell was taken offstage, Navarro, Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins came back onstage and hugged one another, waved to the crowd and flashed peace signs.
Photographer Brian MacKenzie, who was taking photos of the reunion gig, posted on X that Farrell “had a huge bottle of wine with him all evening” and that concertgoers initially thought the confrontation was a bit between the band.
Perry Farrell (left) and Dave Navarro in 2001.
Frank Micelotta Archive
Jane’s Addiction is in the middle of a reunion tour, its first in 15 years, and had been scheduled to play at the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Sunday.
None of the band has commented on the incident about whether the tour will continue.
However, Etty Lau Farrell, who has been married to Perry Farrell since 2002, took to Instagram to explain what happened.
“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,” she said. “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 Lau also claimed that once the lights were dimmed fellow band member Eric Avery “put Perry in a headlock and punched him in the stomach three times” before he “walked off to the front of the stage to apologize to audience for the show ended early.”
FPerry arrell told the New York Post in Sept. 2022 that he missed performing with Navarro, who was battling long-Covid.
“I wish I would have my dear guitar player around,” he said. “How do you go about finding a guitar player to fill the shoes of Dave Navarro?”
(L-R) Musicians Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, Chris Chaney and Dave Navarro honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Frank Trapper
Jane’s Addiction formed in 1985 and was one of the first bands from the early 1990s alternative rock movement to gain mainstream success, earning five Grammy nominations along the way.