Jane's Addiction concert ends abruptly after Perry Farrell punches Dave Navarro and is forced off stage by crew

I was caught training: A Jane’s Addiction reunion concert in Boston ended abruptly Friday night when a clearly enraged Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro — and was restrained by crew members, still appearing physically agitated as he was hustled offstage.

Several audience members shared their dramatic video of the altercation after the concert’s disastrous end. The emotional outburst, which follows “off” moments in other cities that have already been discussed in reviews and on social media, has some fans waiting to see if the remaining shows of the band’s long-awaited reunion tour, their first in 14 years, will go ahead as planned.

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Footage shared online shows the band playing “Ocean Size,” the 11th song of a set that typically spans 14 or 15 songs, when tensions flare between the veteran band’s two most famous members. Some fans reported on social media that the tension seemed to build for several songs before reaching the point of a fight.

Video of the fight shows Ferrell growling violently at the audience, before turning to his right and beginning to yell at Navarro, face to face. He appears to aggressively bump into the guitarist during a solo, and Navarro eventually stops playing and places a hand on Farrell’s chest to establish distance. The singer then appears to throw a punch. At that point, as the stage lights are dimmed, three men, including bassist Eric Avery, surround and grab Farrell, who is eventually forced off stage, apparently still struggling as he is pushed backstage.

Once Farrell left, the rest of the band — including Navarro — moved to the front of the stage to bid the crowd a gentler farewell, appearing calm as they hugged, applauded the audience, tapped their hearts and offered a peace sign.

The altercation immediately exploded on social media, with a multitude of jokes – including countless comparisons to Oasis – as well as more serious concerns expressed for the well-being of the band members involved.

“I was there,” tweeted @deanasc1 on X. “The crowd was bewildered. Half pissed that the show ended early and half excited that we may have seen the last Jane A show ever.”

“Jane’s Addiction broke up before Oasis, oh my god,” tweeted user @Tribecalledflex in typical fashion.

On setlist.fm, the ratings section for the Boston concert offered a tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition of concert trivia, with the following note: “Note: Stephen Perkins’ drums were rigged with balloons to celebrate his birthday. Concert ended early after Perry Farell punched Dave Navarro.”

Press representatives for Jane’s Addiction and the tour’s promoter, Live Nation, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday evening.

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Rumors had already been circulating on social media about Jane’s Addiction’s New York City shows earlier this week, which were being held at the Rooftop at Pier 51. At the first of two shows there, Farrell admitted to the audience that he wasn’t in great vocal shape, reportedly saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have to be honest with you. There’s something wrong with my voice. I just can’t hit the notes all of a sudden.” The next day, bandmate Eric Avery posted on Instagram, “Looking forward to playing this spectacular rooftop venue again tonight. I’m optimistic we’ll be better.”

The next night in New York, things actually took a turn for the better, according to a JamBase reviewer who wrote: “I had seen the reports of Farrell’s condition on Tuesday, so I was worried when Jane’s Addiction aired. Any fears were quickly put to rest as my first experience with Jane’s was terrific. Farrell sang well, Perkins tore it up behind the drums, Navarro shredded, and Avery anchored the band with his steady bass work. (…) Some of (Farrell’s) stories were captivating and others were rambling as he chugged a bottle of wine. He was also obsessed with a device that I assume was supposed to add effects to his voice but didn’t have much impact on my ear. However, when it came to singing the songs, Farrell nailed most of them.”

Ironically, in light of what has happened since, the singer broke up an argument during the band’s second show in New York City. “Farrell actually stopped that last song after noticing a fight in the audience,” JamBase reported. “Farrell asked a fan named ‘Bobby’ to make up with the audience member he was arguing with.”

A review of the band’s Tampa show earlier this month in Creative Loafing may have provided some insight into the tension between Farrell and Navarro. The Florida critic reported, “Farrell went on a slew of absurd rants about cow pastures, mushrooms, surfing, life in Florida, and arguing with his brother about politics, among other indecipherable comments” while “drinking a full bottle of wine throughout the show. … At one point, during one of his ramblings, Navarro deliberately threw a loud, piercing chord on his guitar, almost to shut Farrell up and get the show back on track.”

Jane’s Addiction’s first tour in 15 years is a co-headlining show, with another beloved ’90s band, Love & Rockets, sharing the bill.

Friday night’s fateful Boston show came after about 20 dates on the band’s double-header tour, with 15 more to go. As of this writing, the tour is still scheduled to continue and conclude on October 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, returning to where the band previously performed successfully once at the start of their tour in mid-August.

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