Last week, Jane's Addiction decided to cancel the remaining dates of their comeback tour after frontman Perry Farrell had a physical altercation with guitarist Dave Navarro onstage. The band's members explained that Farrell had been suffering from "mental health difficulties" in a joint statement, and the singer issued an apology on social media stating "It is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show. Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”

Over the weekend, Farrell's wife Etty Lau gave fans a health update on the frontman, assuring "he will recover," but what exactly led to the fight?

The band's guitar tech Dan Cleary spoke about the issues leading up to the incident, as well as some shocking details about the aftermath, on his podcast Rare Form Radio. He began by explaining how the Farrells wanted to include spectacles like backup dancers and singers during the tour but the rest of the band wanted a more scaled-down production. “It’s 2024, it’s a bit of a different time,” Cleary explained to Navarro's longtime friend Todd Newman. “You know, having scantily clad chicks onstage or on video, I don’t think it’s as empowering as maybe the Farrells might think it is … The Farrells sort of couldn’t let go of this thing, to the point that before the first show, Perry quit the band.”

His band members convinced him to move forward with the tour, but according to Cleary, Farrell was not happy about it. He noted how bad some of the shows were leading up to the meltdown. “The first [New York City] show was the worst show I’ve ever seen in my life — I’m not saying just with Jane’s; it was the worst show I’ve ever seen,” he recalled. “[Farrell] didn’t know where he was in the songs. He didn’t know the words. He was singing words from other songs. These are not sound issues. … And also, he had a bunch of fantastic shows throughout the tour. The sound doesn’t change — we’re the same all the time.”

After having a bounce back show during the second night in New York City, things unraveled in Boston on September 13. Cleary explained how Navarro and Farrell were out of sync all night, which led to the onstage shove. But that wasn't all that happened. The guitar tech revealed that bassist Eric Avery punched Farrell several times after putting him in a headlock, and that Farrell punched Navarro in the face backstage.

He backed up the claims with audio, where you can hear Navarro yell, “What the f**k was that, you motherf**ker?” to Farrell, which led to the hit. “That one, he actually connected with,” Cleary noted (Farrell also took a swing onstage). “You can hear it, the right hand to the left side of Dave’s face.”

Fans believe alcohol played a large part in Farrell's behavior, as he tends to drink from a bottle of wine onstage, but Cleary doesn't agree. “He isn’t drinking a sh**load of wine onstage,” he said before adding that he believes “emotional issues” and possible “substances” were factors in what happened.

“No one’s trying to villainize Perry,” Cleary clarified before revealing that he thinks the band is over. “He did do this, and I know this band is over with, but I really do hope that he’s able to figure [things] out… I think that Perry’s apology that was posted on Instagram was heartfelt — and I know that for sure because I’ve checked in and I know that he’s hurting.”

Listen to the full podcast episode below.

Mike Jones