Perry Farrell’s wife has given her “first person account” of the now-notorious onstage fight between two members of Jane’s Addiction, and it’s unclear if her perspective will help fans empathize with her husband.
On Friday, Farrell, the lead vocalist for Jane’s Addiction, appeared visibly upset during a show in Boston before shoving guitarist Dave Navarro and throwing a punch at him, as video footage posted online shows.
The confrontation spurred a fiasco onstage as several people attempted to restrain Farrell, which eventually resulted in the concert’s abrupt end.
On Saturday, Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, decided to post yet another video of the fight on Instagram, sharing her “first person account” while offering some context of the incident.
“Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night,” Etty Lau Farrell wrote. As a result, she said, her husband’s “frustration had been mounting, night after night,” during the band’s most recent tour because “he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band.”
Etty Lau Farrell said everything came to a head Friday night when Jane’s Addiction played their song “Ocean Size” because the band began playing the song “before Perry was ready and did the count off.”
“The stage volume was so loud at that point, that Perry couldn’t hear pass [sic] the boom and the vibration of the instruments and by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard,” she wrote.
Perry Farrell eventually “lost it” when audience members in the first row “started complaining” and “cussing at him” because “they couldn’t hear him,” his wife said.
Etty Lau Farrell said her husband’s frustration resulted in the altercation with Navarro. She did not explain why Perry was specifically upset at the guitarist.
“Perry got up in Dave’s face and body checked him,” she wrote.
While Navarro was “keeping Perry at arm’s length to de-escalate the situation,” bassist Eric Avery “took advantage” of the situation and “got in a few cheap shots” on her husband, Etty Lau Farrell said.
She claimed that while Perry was being restrained, Avery walked up to Perry Farrell “in the dark” and put him “in a headlock and punched him in the stomach three times.” Then, Avery was “pulled” away from Perry and walked over to audience members to apologize about the show ending early, according to Etty Lau Farrell.
Although Etty Lau Farrell was complimentary towards Navarro throughout her post, noting that he “still looked handsome and cool in the middle of a fight,” she said her husband was wrecked afterwards.
“Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour – he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried,” she wrote.
She told any skeptical Instagram followers to “take a look at the video yourself.”
In the video Etty Lau Farrell posted, it does look like someone may have thrown some punches while Perry Farrell was being restrained by several people onstage, but it’s unclear who is punching whom.
HuffPost has reached out to Etty Lau Farrell for further comment and clarification as to her intentions behind this post.
Instagram users were confused by the post, and some showed concern for Etty Lau Farrell’s and her husband’s well-being.
“‘The sound was bad so my husband thought physical violence against someone who doesn’t control the sound was a good idea’ Kay. 🤦🏼♀️,” one user wrote in the comments.
“Dave is a class act. The fact he didn’t react to Perry shows he probably sympathizes with him for some reason that is not volume related,” another user wrote. “This post is like saying everything is fine while the whole house is on fire. Get your husband help.”
“I say this with care: stop enabling your husband,” a third Instagram user wrote. “Perry clearly needs help with whatever ailment is impairing his physical and/or mental health. Your post isn’t honest or helpful … It’s crystal clear that your husband is struggling, so please stop trying to spin this.”
As a result of Perry Farrell’s onstage breakdown, Jane’s Addiction announced Monday that they are canceling the reminder of their tour.
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In contrast to his wife’s Instagram post, the singer issued a public apology Monday in which he took “full accountability” for his “inexcusable behavior.”
“This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” Perry Farrell said in a statement to Billboard.
“Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation,” he added.
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