KISS frontman Paul Stanley has shared his thoughts on Jane’s Addiction‘s bust-up onstage.
Frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro got into a fight while on stage during a show in Boston last month subsequently resulting in the band cancelling their remaining dates and confirming a hiatus, citing the frontman’s “mental health difficulties”.
Speaking on Jackass star Steve-O‘s Wild Ride podcast. Stanley said: “You don’t hit. And you don’t bring your problems onstage. You leave your ego – well, that’s more difficult. But you leave your anger and your resentment at the bottom of the stairs.”
He went on to say “the audience doesn’t deserve that,” in reference to the fight onstage, adding: “The audience paid. And that goes back to that same philosophy of [KISS] being the band we never saw.
“People get one chance to see you, possibly on a tour. It doesn’t matter about last night or about the night after – that’s their night, and for them to see you not interacting with your bandmate, that’s kid shit. That’s disrespectful to the people who paid.”
Jane’s Addiction guitar tech Dan Cleary recently shared Farrell’s isolated mic track from the performance that saw him have an onstage fight with Navarro.
Cleary – the band’s guitar and bass tech of 17 years – put the footage on YouTube with his narration, and also recently revealed Farrell had punched Navarro in the face backstage after the initial altercation.
Farrell’s wife Etty Lau had also weighed in on the situation, and attributed Perry’s behaviour to him suffering from “tinnitus and a sore throat every night”, which had been compounded by “extremely loud” stage volume and his voice “being drowned out by the band”.
She has since said Farrell was taking time to “reflect and to heal”, and would be seeking help from an otolaryngologist and a neurologist. She also said there was “no need for [her] to address the other false narratives” about the situation.
Meanwhile, Porno For Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble recently described Farrell as “the worst frontman I’ve ever worked with” in a scathing series of posts shared on X/Twitter.
At their recently completed UK and European tour earlier this year, NME gave the band a five-star review for their gig at London’s Roundhouse.
“Now back in full swing, fan-favourites including ‘Mountain Song’, ‘Ain’t No Right’ and ‘Been Caught Stealing’ come in thick and fast, and seem to have a new lease of life that push the set to new heights,” it read.
“Not only does Navarro take every chance he gets to showcase a dizzying number of electrifying licks, but Perkins and Avery hold down the rhythm section with enough intensity to put anyone to shame – all while telepathically knowing when to toy with dynamics and take the renditions in sonic new directions.”