On Friday, September 13 last year, Jane's Addiction imploded onstage at Boston's Leader Bank Pavilion with a violent altercation between band members. Specifically vocalist Perry Farrell was seen to aim a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro and had to be restrained and bundled off-stage by crew members.
A statement subsequently announced that the remaining dates of the LA quartet's US tour had been cancelled, and on September 16, Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins declared that the group were going on hiatus, saying, "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. 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. Dave, Eric and Stephen."
Speaking in a new interview with Guitar Player, Dave Navarro says that the situation is "still very tender and unresolved", but firmly declares that the band will never play together again.
Talking to writer Andrew Daly, Navarro says, "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 illness — 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.
Speaking about the band's European tour which preceded their North American dates, and received rave reviews, Navarro says, "t was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning."
"That gig, September 13, in Boston, ended all of that... The experiences are there, but the potential of having those types of experiences ended that night."
