A Jane’s Addiction concert in Boston came to a chaotic end Friday night after lead singer Perry Farrell took a swing at guitarist Dave Navarro before he was restrained and dragged from the stage.
The rock group was performing at the Leader Bank Pavilion as part of their reunion tour, their first in 14 years, when tensions between the pair of bandmates seemingly exploded.
Toward the end of a rendition of “Ocean Size,” Farrell seemingly shouted several expletives into his microphone, then approached Navarro and bumped him with his shoulder, per videos circulating online.
The guitarist can then be seen placing his hand on Farrell’s chest, an apparent bid to calm him, before the frontman throws a punch his way.
In response, bassist Eric Avery rushed over to the pair, setting himself up between the musicians and trying to calm Farrell, but to no avail. It only appeared to further agitate the singer, who again tried to approach Navarro before crew members grabbed him and pulled him into the wings.
Farrell’s wife, Etty Lou Farrell, took to Instagram Saturday to explain what sparked his apparent rage, offering her “first person account of what happened.” She blamed the incident on “tension and animosity between the members” of Jane’s Addiction.
“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 Lou wrote, noting that her husband has been suffering from “tinnitus and a sore throat.”
In the moments before the fracas, Etty Lou said a member in the front row similarly complained about the volume, “cussing at” Farrell and saying that the band was “too loud and that they couldn’t hear him.”
That’s when “Perry lost it,” she said.
Etty Lou added that the band also kicked off “Ocean Size” before Farrell was ready, and that by the end “he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard.”
Once Farrell was gone, the rest of Jane’s Addiction — including Navarro — stepped to the front of the stage and bid their fans farewell, Variety reported.
It’s not clear what the drama could mean for the rest of the band’s 23-city tour, which was announced in May after the group performed an intimate show in London.
Their next concert is scheduled to take place on Sunday at Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
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