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Jane’s Addiction have cancelled the remainder of their North American tour in the wake of an onstage altercation.
The American rock band’s classic lineup reunited earlier this year for the first time in 14 years, but cut short their Friday night (13 September) show at Boston’s Leader Bank Pavilion in the US after frontman and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell, 65, threw a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro.
After pulling last night’s (15 September) gig at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut, they have now axed their remaining 15 shows of their co-headline tour with Love and Rockets, which began in early August.
“The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group,” says a statement issued on behalf of Jane’s Addiction. “As such, they will be cancelling the remainder of the tour.”
Navarro, 57, elaborated on the situation in a post on his personal Instagram account, also signed by fellow band members Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins.
“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”
“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,” it reads. “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.”
Farrell’s wife Etty also addressed the incident on Instagram, saying: “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.
“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.”
Farrell has since put out a statement of his own.
”This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologise to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” he says.
“Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behaviour, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
The group toured Europe earlier this year, playing headline shows at venues in the UK such as London Roundhouse, O2 Apollo Manchester and Glasgow Barrowlands; Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium and Docks in Lausanne, Switzerland, plus festivals including Pinkpop and Rock Werchter.
Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro just got in a fight and the concert ended. pic.twitter.com/vCDOM0zBXG
— Rich Whitaker (@RMWhitaker) September 14, 2024
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Tributes have been paid to music manager and Lollapalooza co-founder Ted Gardner in the wake of his death aged 74.
Gardner, who managed acts such as Jane’s Addiction, Tool, The Verve, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Queens of the Stone Age, passed away in Melbourne in his native Australia following a long illness.
Beginning his career in 1977, Gardner partnered with Mushroom Records co-founders Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans to run the Bottom Line club in Richmond, Victoria, and went on to work in tour and production management for artists including New Order, The The, Echo & The Bunnymen and Crowded House.
He started managing Jane’s Addiction in 1989 and created the famed Lollapalooza festival in 1991 with the band’s frontman Perry Farrell and agents Marc Geiger and Don Muller.
“RIP Ted Gardner – our good times will live forever – love to you on your journey,” wrote Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins on Twitter.
We will miss a great manager, mentor and friend
“We will miss a great manager, mentor and friend,” tweeted Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. “The funniest story he told me was of a meeting when Lollapalooza went mega. He walks in and Perry Farrell goes, ‘Ted, we got Metallica to headline.’ He goes ‘Fuck, you just wrecked this festival.’ Perry goes, ‘Ted, they are on speakerphone now.’ Telephone: ‘Hi Ted.'”
Gardner returned to Australia in 2007 after 25 years in Los Angeles, and founded Cross Section Management & Records with Scott Mesiti.
“Ted was a tough man with a good heart,” wrote musician Martyn LeNoble. “We butted heads quite a bit, maybe because he was trying to manage the unmanageable, but we still liked each other.”
“When I visited LA for the very first time in 2001, Ted was one of a handful of artist managers that gave me the time of day and took a meeting [with] me, a nobody in the music biz,” added artist manager Tim Smith. “Such a nice guy and big fan of many of his artists.”
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