Jane's Addiction cancels Chicago show, rest of tour after onstage scuffle
BOSTON — The alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction has scuttled its latest tour, including a Chicago show scheduled for next week, following an onstage scuffle between lead singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro.
“The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such, they will be cancelling the remainder of the tour,” the band said in a brief statement Monday.
The move comes after videos captured Farrell lunging at Navarro during a Friday concert in Boston, bumping Navarro with his shoulder before taking a swing at the guitarist with his right arm. Navarro is seen holding his right arm out to keep Farrell away before Farrell is dragged away by others on stage. The show ended shortly after and the band apologized.
The band is known for edgy, punk-inspired hits “Jane Says,” “Been Caught Stealing” and “Just Because” in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the alternative rock and grunge music movements were growing. It has three top five hits on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart.
“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,” Etty Lau Farrell, Farrell’s wife, wrote in an Instagram post Saturday morning.
She said her husband had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat and “by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard.” She said her husband later broke down “and cried and cried.”
The band’s “Imminent Redemption” tour — with opening act Love and Rockets — started in early August and was to end on Oct. 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. The Chicago show was planned for Sept. 24 at the Aragon Ballroom, and Ticketmaster says ticket costs will be refunded.
The North American shows marked the first time since 2010 that the original Jane’s Addiction lineup — Farrell, Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery — played an extended run of shows together.