Jane's Addiction embarked on a reunion tour last year that was cut short after Perry Farrell began fighting with Dave Navarro onstage mid-show. Since that ill-fated September evening, a guitar tech from that gig said the band was over, and the members who aren't Farrell have apparently spent some time jamming in the studio together. We didn't really need any concrete news that Jane's Addiction was over for good, but regardless, we now have confirmation that there's "no chance for the band to ever play together again."
Navarro recently did an interview with Guitar Player and made his first comments about the punching incident. He was understandably a bit vague about what went down backstage, but here's what he had to say:
There was an altercation onstage, and all the hard work and dedication and writing and hours in the studio, and picking up and leaving home and crisscrossing the country and Europe and trying to overcome my illness -- it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life. And there's no chance for the band to ever play together again. I have to say that’s my least favorite gig, without throwing animosity around, and without naming names and pointing fingers, and coming up with reasons.
I’ll just say that the experience prior to that gig, when we were in Europe and gelling, really, for the first time -- because at our ages, in our 50s and 60s, everybody’s done what they’re gonna do, and we weren’t competitive with each other -- we were getting along. There was no ego issue; it was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning. It was just us on a stage, with people going fucking crazy.
And that gig, September 13th, in Boston, ended all of that. And for that reason, that is my least favorite gig that I have ever played... The experiences are there, but the potential of having those types of experiences ended that night. And so, you know, it is what it is. And that’s my answer.
In the same interview, Navarro also talked about his favorite gig he ever played, when his other band Camp Freddy got Lou Reed to perform "Venus In Furs" with them. Not a bad trade-off! You can read about more Jane's-related chaos and drama in Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour's new oral history book Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story Of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival.
