Jane’s Addiction Cancel Rest Of Reunion Tour
The much-ballyhooed reunion of Jane’s Addiction’s original lineup might already have ended — in dramatic fashion. The band had already called off Sunday’s show in Bridgeport after Saturday’s Boston gig ended in a fistfight between singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, and bassist Eric Avery following mounting fan frustrations and concerns about Farrell’s condition. Now the whole tour has been canceled and the future of the band seems very much up in the air.
An announcement on Jane’s Addiction’s Instagram page reads: “To all the fans, 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.” A separate announcement, posted on the personal pages of Navarro, Avery, and their bandmate Stephen Perkins, offers further details:
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.
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.
Our hearts are broken.
Dave, Eric and Stephen
Love And Rockets, who were opening the tour, have also posted their own message to fans, noting, “We would have loved to have completed the rest of the dates on the tour with Jane’s Addiction but unfortunately the matter is out of our hands.”
Observers at recent Jane’s shows have noted that Farrell does not seem well. In response to such comments, Farrell’s wife posited that Farrell has struggled with a sore throat and has been angry to be drowned out by what he perceives as excessive volume from his bandmates.
Jane’s Addiction’s original lineup were performing together for the first time in 14 years. They recently released “Imminent Redemption” (a title now steeped in irony), their first single together since 1990. Navarro said a new album was “more than likely.”
The band had to wait a long time to get back together. Navarro sat out a 2022 tour with Smashing Pumpkins due to long COVID. Now it’s an open question whether they’ll ever perform together again.
UPDATE: Farrell has issued a statement of his own. It reads:
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.
See the rest of the statements below.
