The Jane’s Addiction reunion is over. As widely expected, the band have cancelled the rest of their North American tour and have gone on an immediate hiatus.
And Perry Farrell has apologised publicly for his behaviour. He posted on Instagram yesterday, writing: “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only that I apologise 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 behaviour, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
Thus ends speculation over the future of the group after a chaotic show in Boston on Friday. That ended with a physical altercation between Farrell and Navarro, crew members having to separate the pair and an early end to the gig amid much booing from the audience.
Over the weekend Navarro posted a picture of himself on Instagram with his acoustic turned around to the back to show its Jane’s Addiction sticker. His simple message read: “Goodnight”. Navarro then unfollowed the rest of the band on social media and Farrell unfollowed him.
Since then Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins announced that the rest of the tour had been cancelled, citing their frontman’s “mental health difficulties” as the main factor.
“Due to a continuing pattern of behaviour 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,” they wrote. “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.”
Over the weekend Farrell’s wife Etsy Lau had thrown some light on the situation, writing on Instagram that there had been “a lot of tension and animosity between the members” before the Boston show.
“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,” she wrote.
“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.” A photographer that was at the Boston gig that Farrell had “a huge bottle of wine with him all evening” and “Navarro and Avery kept chatting with each other the whole show and seemed angrier than normal”.
Whatever the ins and outs of the split, this all-too-brief ‘next chapter’ of the Jane’s Addiction story that they announced in July with the Imminent Redemption single, would now appear to have ended.
