Alternative rock band Jane's Addiction officially canceled the rest of their reunion tour following lead singer Perry Farrell's physical assault on guitarist Dave Navarro during a concert stop in Boston.
The original members of the Los Angeles-based rockers, who gained commercial success during the early 1990s, reunited to embark on a tour comprising the first string of successive live performances in 14 years.
However, things fell apart on stage last Friday at Boston’s Leader Bank Pavilion during their performance of the song "Ocean Size."
Viral video clips showed Farrell forcibly ramming into Navarro and then throwing a punch at him, resulting in the rest of the show being canceled.
At the time, the future of the tour was up in the air after the unsettling incident showed evident tension among the two musicians involved.
You can watch a clip of the physical altercation here.
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On Monday, Jane's Addiction's Instagram page announced the tour was indefinitely canceled.
"To all the fans, the band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group," read the statement.
"As such, they will be [canceling] the remainder of the tour."
The announcement stated that refunds for canceled performances would be fully issued at the ticket holder's point of purchase.
Fans weighed in on the situation.
Navarro addressed the incident in a separate Instagram post and spoke on behalf of the band members.
"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," he wrote on Monday morning.
He continued:
"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."
Navarro added on behalf of his bandmates:
"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."
The post concluded with, "Our hearts are broken. Dave, Eric, and Stephen."
Immediately following Farrell's violent behavior, his wife, Etty Lau Farrell, shared a clip of her husband punching Navarro and gave details to give fans some insight as to why chaos unfolded that night on stage.
"Clearly there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members.. the magic that made the band so dynamic," she wrote. "Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got up in Dave’s face and body checked him."
She explained that a sound issue was the root of the problem, writing:
"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."
According to her, the band started playing the song before Farrell was able to count them off, and the stage volume was "so loud at that point, that Perry couldn’t hear pass the boom and the vibration of the instruments."
"By the end of the song, he wasn’t singing," she said, adding, that "he was screaming just be to be heard."
Farrell's wife, who met the singer as a backing dancer for Jane's Addiction on the 1997 tour and married him in 2002, said bassist Eric Avery helped de-escalate the altercation by putting Farrell in a headlock and "punched him in the stomach three times" before a crew member named Kevin pulled Avery away.
Farrell has since come forward with a statement of apology.
"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."
He continued:
"Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation."
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Social media users continued sharing thoughts.
Hopefully, the band members, who've been jamming together and entertaining loyal fans for over two decades, will get back on a path toward emotional healing.
