DAVE NAVARRO Says JANE’S ADDICTION Is Permanently Over After An On-Stage Altercation Ended Things

Jane’s Addiction‘s show on September 13 at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston, MA was sadly the end of the band when vocalist Perry Farrell assaulted guitarist Dave Navarro on stage. Jane’s Addiction originally cancelled their show on September 15 with possible plans to continue, but ultimately canned their whole tour and said they were taking time away as a band.

Unfortunately that altercation seems to have ben the final nail in the coffin for Jane’s Addiction, at least according to Navarro in a recent interview with Guitar Player. Navarro avoids a lot of specific wording in his answer, but does concretely note that there’s “no chance for the band to ever play together again.”

“There were a couple of gigs on this last run that we did last year in Europe with Eric Avery back on bass that were some of my favorite Jane’s Addiction gigs of all-time,” said Navarro. “There was no bullshit: No props. No nothing onstage. No dancing, no pyro, and no gimmicks. It was just the four of us and some colored lights, and we were playing the songs, expanding on them, and getting in a kind of weird.

“If you combined Grateful Dead and Radiohead, there were moments like that — just weird, experimental jams that we’d never done before as a band. And yet, if you were to ask me what my least favorite gig was, it would be a gig last September, on Friday the 13^th, in Boston. I have to speak in broad strokes here, because there are other individuals involved, and it’s still very tender and unresolved.

“There was an altercation onstage, and all the hard work and dedication and writing and hours in the studio, and picking up and leaving home and crisscrossing the country and Europe and trying to overcome my [long COVID] — it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life. And there’s no chance for the band to ever play together again.

“I have to say that’s my least favorite gig, without throwing animosity around, and without naming names and pointing fingers, and coming up with reasons. There was an altercation onstage, and it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life.

“I’ll just say that the experience prior to that gig, when we were in Europe and gelling, really, for the first time — because at our ages, in our 50s and 60s, everybody’s done what they’re gonna do, and we weren’t competitive with each other — we were getting along. There was no ego issue; it was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning. I was just us on a stage, with people going fucking crazy.

“And that gig, September 13^th, in Boston, ended all of that. And for that reason, that is my least favorite gig that I have ever played. I think that’s a pretty democratic way, you know, a pretty bipartisan way to go about it. You know, just the real sadness is the loss of that previous… The experiences are there, but the potential of having those types of experiences ended that night. And so, you know… it is what it is. And that’s my answer.”

Jane’s Addiction was – in their final incarnation – vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, guitarist Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen Perkins. The band released two singles named “Imminent Redemption” and “True Love”, but sadly didn’t get any further than that.