The isolated vocals of Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell during the night of his onstage altercation with Dave Navarro have surfaced online.
It was just last month that Farrell’s frustration during the band’s performance in Boston boiled over onstage, initially leading him to lunge at and push Navarro before eventually landing a punch at the guitarist. The singer was then restrained and taken offstage by several crew members. In the aftermath, the band offered an apology and then proceeded to call off the remainder of the touring and announce an immediate hiatus.
What Led to Jane’s Addiction’s Onstage Scuffle?
Perry Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, commented after the onstage dustup that while there had been a lot of tension and animosity amongst the band members, that night Farrell had reached a breaking point over an ongoing issue with the stage volume.
“Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and [that] his voice was being drowned out by the band,” the had written.
She later added that the final straw came when the band launched into “Ocean Size” before the singer was ready: “By the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard,” she stated.
Perry Farrell’s Isolated Vocals
The isolated audio was shared by Dan Cleary, a longtime friend of the band who had worked as the guitar and bass tech during the reunion tour.
Speaking on his Rare Form Radio podcast, the tech has previously stated of the show, ““The first [NYC] show was the worst show I’ve ever seen in my life — I’m not saying just with Jane’s; it was the worst show I’ve ever seen… He didn’t know where he was in the songs. He didn’t know the words. He was singing words from other songs. These are not sound issues. … And also, he had a bunch of fantastic shows throughout the tour. The sound doesn’t change — we’re the same all the time.”
In a narrated breakdown of the moments prior to Farrell’s altercation with Navarro, Cleary notes that Farrell is singing vocals in the wrong spot. You also hear Farrell letting out a strained yell that Cleary says is out of frustration.
But after the yell is the moment that Farrell’s frustration became more actionable. As the band continues to play, Farrell says into the mic, “Fuck these motherfuckers! Fuck them! Fuck them! Fuck him!,” as he gestured toward Eric Avery’s side of the stage with the last comment.
After letting out a few grunts, he then growls in Navarro’s direction looking him in the face before lunging into him and yelling, “Ahhh, fuck him.” The mic then cuts out as Farrell screams at Navarro until you hear the thud of Farrell’s shove and punch landing against Navarro’s chest.
Dan Cleary on the Rare Form Radio Podcast + Breakdown of Farrell’s Isolated Vocals
Jane’s Addiction Announce Hiatus
After the events of the Boston show, the band eventually canceled the remainder of their tour and announced plans for an immediate hiatus.
In a statement issued by the group, they commented, “To all the fans, 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.”
A second statement shared by Navarro, Avery and Stephen Perkins stated, “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 U.S. 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.”
They continued, “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.”
READ MORE: Jane’s Addiction Debut New Song ‘True Love’ After Canceling Tour
Farrell later issued a separate statement that read, “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.”
Farrell’s wife later posted that the singer had made appointments to see an otolaryngologist and a neurologist following the incident.
10 Times All But One Member of a Band Quit at Once
While band breakups are commonplace, and members being replaced every now and again is even more so, not so frequent is the very harsh reality when everyone in the group decides to quit besides a single member.
Gallery Credit: By Selena Fragassi
