Beantown Band Brawl!
Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro during an onstage altercation, prompting several crew members to pull him offstage and abruptly end the reunited band's Boston concert Friday night.
While Pharrell was performing the song “Ocean Size”, he began to rant angrily and told the crowd at the Leader Bank Pavilion “fuck you” and then began screaming into the microphone.
Farrell, visibly agitated, then turned to his right toward Navarro, where he again yelled and slammed his shoulder into the unidentified guitarist, According to a video Pictures of the bizarre clash were posted on social media.
The two rockers came face-to-face with each other, while Pharrell got closer to Navarro, who calmly held him with his right hand.
When several crew and band mates, including bassist Eric Avery, run up and stop the “Been Caught Stealing” singer, telling him to “stop,” Farrell begins elbowing the guitarist.
The lights were dimmed on stage, but several punches were thrown as the fiery singer was led away from the crowd's view.
The three remaining band members — Navarro, Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins — came to the front of the stage, where they bid the crowd a warm farewell.
The band members raised their hands above their heads, thumped their chests and gave peace signs while the crowd gave them a standing ovation.
Photographer Brian MackenzieThose tasked with taking photographs for the venue posted on X that the crowd believed the confrontation was between the band members.
They claimed, “Perry carried a large bottle of wine with him throughout the evening, Navarro and Avery spoke over each other throughout the show and appeared angrier than usual.”
“I was there,” X user @deanasc1 said“The crowd was shocked. Half angry that the show ended early and half excited that we had probably seen the last of Jane's show.”
The band, Navarro and Perry had not commented publicly on the incident as of Saturday morning.
The band, which is on its North American tour, has been having trouble getting its singer to perform during recent shows.
While performing on the rooftop of New York's Pier 17 on September 10, Pharrell told the crowd that his voice wasn't very good,” Variety reported.
The singer reportedly said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have to be honest with you. There's something wrong with my voice. I suddenly can't hit the notes.”
Next day Avery wrote on Instagram to reach out to fans and get them excited for their second performance in Manhattan.
“I can't wait to be back at this fantastic rooftop venue tonight. I hope we put on a better show,” he added.
Jane's Addiction is scheduled to perform at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut on September 15th.
The Grammy-nominated band's 2024 tour marks the reunion of the four original members following the return of Avery in 2022 and Navarro, who missed touring in 2022 and 2023 due to a long-term battle with COVID.
Farrell admitted that he missed his guitarist in Navarro's absence.
“I wish my favorite guitar player was with me,” Pharrell told the post In September 2022.[But] I live to give entertainment and art to the world. And whatever I can do to entertain you, to surprise you, that's what I live for.”
To fill Navarro's spot, the band enlisted Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
“How do you find a guitar player to replace Dave Navarro? We had to go through people we knew, people we loved, and Troy was the best fit out of everybody we considered,” Farrell said.
