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Jane’s Addiction axe tour after onstage bust-up

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.

 


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Lollapalooza India ‘will break even by next year’

The organisers of Lollapalooza India say the festival is on course to break even next year as it celebrates a successful second edition.

More than 60,000 fans over two days gathered at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse from 27-28 January to see headliners Sting, Jonas Brothers, Halsey and OneRepublic.

Held across four stages, the lineup also included acts such as Keane, Lauv, Jungle, Royal Blood, JPEGMAFIA, Meduza, Malaa, Caribou, The Rose and Eric Nam.

The festival was produced by co-founder Perry Farrell, Live Nation’s C3 Presents and Indian ticketing giant BookMyShow, which has expanded into staging live events.

Speaking to Mint, BookMyShow’s chief of business, live entertainment, Owen Roncon says the event is projected to become financially stable by year three – in line with expectations. Tickets started at 5,999 Indian rupee (€66.50).

“Lolla will break even by next year for sure. We are in the ballpark and it’s going per the plan with no massive deviation”

“Lolla will break even by next year for sure,” says Roncon. “We are in the ballpark and it’s going per the plan with no massive deviation.

“The kind of brand pickup that we’ve seen in Lolla is unprecedented. I don’t think there’s any other IP that has picked up this kind of inventory from the market. And it’s only increasing. I think by next year, we’ll be able to do far more for brands, and our plans are bigger and better for the brands themselves. So therefore I think that that those scales are gonna get better.”

Last year’s inaugural Lolla India featured performances from local and international artists including Imagine Dragons, The Strokes, AP Dhillon, Cigarettes After Sex, Divine, the F16s, Jackson Wang, Imanbek, Greta Van Fleet, The Wombats and Diplo. Its debut in Asia meant the brand has now grown to eight countries on four continents, including editions in the US, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France and Sweden.

Mumbai-based BookMyShow also launched rock festival Badland in Bengaluru last month, headlined by Deep Purple and Goo Goo Dolls, and is planning a hip-hop festival in Delhi. Roncon reveals the firm is focusing its attention on Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi for large-scale events, and is exploring venue development in various cities as it seeks to improve the country’s live entertainment infrastructure.

“Those can be shared with others too and everyone’s production cost can come down, it brings down the ticket prices and gives talent a platform,” he explains. “We’re looking at that very, very aggressively and I think in the next year or two, you should see a few results.”

 


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Lollapalooza docuseries in the works

Paramount+ has greenlit a new music docuseries exploring the history of Lollapalooza festival.

The three-part Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza series is being produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and FunMeter, in partnership with C3 Presents, and will chronicle the relationship between the festival and its founder Perry Farrell, and the evolution of “the now global cultural phenomenon”.

“When Lolla was launched in 1991, the concert industry felt like a boring car ride that was running out of gas,” says Farrell. “We pumped new life into the live music experience and set the foundation for the youth’s counter culture to become important and exciting again. Now more than three decades young, I am happy to have this opportunity to give people an inside look at the festival’s contribution to music history.”

No date has yet been set for the series, which will be directed by Michael John Warren, whose past music projects include Jay-Z’s Fade to Black, Nicki Minaj’s My Time Now and My Time Again, and Drake’s Better Than Good Enough.

“It’s an honour to be entrusted to tell the true story of one of the most astonishing cultural touchstones in the last half-century”

“As a naive teenager trapped in the doldrums of Suburbia, USA, I attended the first-ever Lollapalooza, and it totally blew my mind,” adds Warren. “It was dangerous, beautiful and instantly widened my perspective. So, it’s an honour to be entrusted to tell the true story of one of the most astonishing cultural touchstones in the last half-century.”

The project will be the first major festival documentary since the three-part Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99, which premiered on Netflix last summer and revisited the events around the festival’s ill-fated 1999 revival.

Lollapalooza launched in Chicago in 1991 and has gone on to expand to Chile, Brazil, Germany, France, Sweden and most recently India.

The debut edition of Lollapalooza India was held last weekend at Mahalaxmi Racecourse Lawns in Mumbai and drew 60,000 fans over two days. The event saw performances from local and international artists including Imagine Dragons, The Strokes, AP Dhillon, Cigarettes After Sex, Divine, the F16s, Jackson Wang, Imanbek, Greta Van Fleet, The Wombats, and Diplo.

The next Lollapalooza US is slated for Grant Park, Chicago from 3-6 August.

 


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Lollapalooza India to debut in 2023

Lollapalooza has announced it is expanding to India, with the inaugural edition set for Mumbai from 28-29 January 2023.

Lollapalooza India will showcase both global stars and local talent and will mark the first time the event has been held in Asia.

Offering two days of music across four stages as well as culinary selections, art and fashion, line-up and ticket information will be released soon.

“The music of India is transcendental, it draws our spirits East,” says Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. “Lollapalooza is an instrument for unity, peace, and education utilising the universal languages of music and art to find common ground.”

Lollapalooza India is being produced by Farrell, WME, C3 Presents and India’s BookMyShow, and means the brand has now grown to eight countries on four continents, including editions in the US, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France and Sweden.

“We are excited to introduce fans to an entirely new festival experience”

“Lollapalooza has always been about exploring boundaries, musically and geographically,” says C3 Presents partner Charlie Walker. “We are excited to introduce fans to an entirely new festival experience that has been a significant rite of passage for millions of music fans around the world for more than three decades.”

BookMyShow is owned and operated by Big Tree Entertainment and is described as “India’s leading entertainment destination”. The company has brought international stars such as U2, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Justin Bieber to the market over the past few years.

“BookMyShow is proud to bring Lollapalooza to India – making it the eighth country and the fourth continent to do so,” says the firm’s founder and CEO Ashish Hemrajani. “With a mix of some stellar Indian talent and global artists coming together on the same stage, we expect nothing short of magic.”

Launched in 2007, BookMyShow has evolved from an online ticketing platform for movies to end-to-end management of live entertainment events including concerts, theatrical productions and sport.

 


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J-Hope set for historic Lollapalooza headline slot

BTS member J-Hope is set to make history by headlining the final night of Lollapalooza 2022 in Chicago’s Grant Park on 31 July.

The performance will see the rapper become the first South Korean artist to ever headline a main stage at a major US music festival.

In addition, K-pop band Tomorrow X Together will make their US festival debut with a performance at the event on 30 July. Both acts are represented by Seoul-headquartered entertainment company BigHit Music.

“Lolla is the place where all music genres live in harmony”

“I’m happy to welcome J-Hope and Tomorrow X Together into the Lollapalooza family,” says Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. “These artists have been given great gifts in communication. Their global audience speak different languages but possess an intense passion for their music.

“Lolla is the place where all music genres live in harmony. These are the superstars of the global phenomenon of K-Pop, and we are so excited to have them at this year’s festival.”

Doja Cat had originally been due to close this year’s Lollapalooza, which runs from 28-31 July, but withdrew last month due to throat problems. The four-day line-up will feature more than 170 artists performing across nine stages, including Metallica, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, Machine Gun Kelly, Glass Animals, J Cole, Kygo, Big Sean, Idles, Green Day, Jane’s Addiction, The Kid Laroi and Charli XCX.

Lollapalooza, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021, is produced by Farrell, WME and C3 Presents.

 


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