The very public collapse of Jane’s Addiction has been what everyone in rock music has been talking about lately. But what millions saw in the fan video that surfaced online of Perry Farrell trying, and failing, to punch his guitarist Dave Navarro, it now seems that what the public saw was only part of the altercation. According to Dan Cleary, the band’s guitar and bass tech for the past 17 years, the fight continued backstage with a second punch from Farrell that actually connected with Navarro’s face.
On the latest episode of Cleary’s podcast, Rare Form Radio, he had an in-depth conversation with Dave Navarro’s best friend Todd Newman in which the two of them went into the details of what happened in the now infamous incident, and Cleary detailed the events as they continued back stage. In the podcast, Newman and Cleary try their best to show some sympathy to Farrell despite clearly being on the side of the other members of the band.
The revelation that there was another punch seems to put another nail in the coffin of the once-great band who many, including some members of the band itself, think will never recover from this. I still believe that there will be another Jane’s Addiction reunion, as there have been so many breakups and reunions in this band already. And honestly, once Danzig and Jerry Only reformed the original Misfits, I stopped saying “never” when talking about band reunions. I always say that, if the Misfits can reform after 33 years of suing each other, pretty much any band reunion is possible, no matter how much animosity band members once had for each other. That being said, I do think it will be a very long time before we see Farrell and Navarro share a stage again, and I think it’s likely to be even longer before we see Eric Avery take the stage with any of them again.
