A tech for Jane’s Addiction has offered new insight into the night Perry Farrell punched Dave Navarro onstage, saying that the singer took a swing at the guitarist a second time backstage after the show.
Dan Cleary, who’s handled bass and guitar tech duties for the alt-rockers for 17 years, explains the incident in-depth in the new episode of Rare Form Radio. The band cancelled all upcoming shows and entered an indefinite hiatus earlier this month, shortly after a frustrated Farrell threw the punch at Navarro in Boston on September 13. The altercation was during the North American leg of the classic lineup’s reunion tour.
Farrell’s bandmates said the vocalist’s “mental health difficulties” left them “no alternative” but to part ways for their own safety. Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau, said in a statement that the singer lashed out due to frustration over the mix “drown[ing] out” his voice, as well as issues with “tinnitus and a sore throat”. The singer apologised for his actions, saying, “I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
According to Cleary and Rare Form Radio host Todd Newman (a friend of Navarro’s), however, it felt like Farrell “quit the band” before Jane’s Addiction’s 2024 North American tour even kicked off in Las Vegas on August 9. “Management earned their keep that day,” Cleary says (via Ultimate Guitar).
Cleary alleges that Farrell desired to project videos of his wife and other women dancing onto the backdrop while the band were performing, and that the singer was aggravated by his bandmates shooting down the idea. Newman claims that Etty Lau was present at the Las Vegas concert, “out in this public area yelling about how Perry is going home and the tour is over”.
Cleary goes on to dispute Etty Lau’s allegations of there being sound issues at the Boston concert and suggests Farrell was “fucked up” that night. “The three worst shows [of the tour], this man was clearly fucked up, and we knew it from the moment we saw him earlier in the day [in Boston],” he says.
The tech claims that, before the Boston show, Farrell suffered from “paranoia” as he saw bandmates Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery huddling up and discussing the concert. “He thinks they’re talking about him, which they are, but not in the way he thinks. They’re trying to figure out how to fix this stuff… So he goes over and starts screaming lyrics at them, which was just strange.”
Cleary says watching Farrell go after Navarro onstage later in the night “felt like seeing a little kid getting bullied on the schoolyard for something he didn’t do”. He says Avery felt the same, which is why the bassist proceeded to put Farrell in a headlock and punch him in the stomach, as it was all he could think to do to stop the situation.
The tech then describes Farrell punching Navarro again backstage after the show. “Eventually Dave walks up to ask what the fuck happened, and Perry punches him again […] I feel for [Farrell], because something is going on mentally. He looked crazed.”
Cleary finishes by saying “no one is trying to villainise” Farrell, and that “I know this band is over with, but I really do hope that he’s able to figure [things] out”.
Jane’s Addiction released a new single, True Love, on September 19. However, Navarro posted on social media that fans will “likely never” hear the song get played live.
