If you’re wondering what the Jane’s Addiction split and Walt Whitman’s groundbreaking “Leaves of Grass” have in common, allow rocker Dave Navarro to enlighten you.
That is to say, grieve a loss instead of remaining “in a consistent state of dissatisfaction.”
The Jane’s Addiction guitarist used the poet’s 1855 book to reflect on the band’s recent issues, drawing inspiration from the prized piece of American Romanticism literature for his introspective analysis.
“[I]t occurred to me that there is a strong parallel between his work and that of our own,” the rocker wrote Tuesday on Instagram, a day after Jane’s Addiction announced it was taking “some time away as a group” and called off the remainder of its U.S. tour amid infighting.
“The leaves represent the cycle of life and death, yet he continued to work on the body of poems until his own death in 1892,” Navarro wrote of Whitman. “Perhaps he, like us, was unable to fully understand his own work as he continuously tried to re-write, add and expand upon it, willing away his own work’s cycle of life… just as we have.
“Perhaps it’s simpler to recognize when something is gone and learn from the magical lesson of grief rather than avoid it and remain in a consistent state of dissatisfaction,” he mused.
On Monday, the “Jane Says” singers abruptly called off the remainder of the band’s reunion tour after an onstage fight scuttled Friday’s show in Boston. The band’s initial statement about taking time off was followed by a thorny invective attributed to singer Perry Farrell’s bandmates, highlighting his “mental health difficulties” after his altercation with Navarro during the show at Leader Bank Pavilion. Onstage, Perry appeared to punch Navarro, and a subsequent fight was broken up by the stage crew. Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, later alleged that bassist Eric Avery “put Perry in a headlock and punched him in the stomach three times,” then apologized to the audience for ending the show early.
“Due to a continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to discontinue the current US tour,” guitarist Navarro, bassist Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins said in a joint statement posted Monday on Instagram. “Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs.”
Hours later, Farrell issued a personal apology for reaching a “breaking point” that resulted in 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,” Farrell said in a statement to The Times. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
Separately, Navarro conveyed his remorse to the opening acts Jane’s Addiction brought on the ill-fated tour, veteran rockers Love & Rockets and Crawlers.
“I would personally like to apologize to @loveandrocketsofficial and @crawlersband and their crews for such a terrible outcome of what started off as an incredibly magical tour,” Navarro wrote on his since-expired Instagram story.
“@loveandrockets are heroes of mine and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to perform on the same stage as them for as long as I did. It truly has been an honor,” he added (via Loudwire).
The musicians canceled their remaining 15 shows less than a month after Live Nation added seven dates to the Jane’s Addiction tour. Before canceling, the band apologized Saturday to fans “for the events that unfolded” on Friday, then canceled a show in Bridgeport, Conn., that had been scheduled for Sunday.
The “Nothing’s Shocking” and “Ritual de lo Habitual” singers were high school friends who formed California’s pioneering pre-grunge band in 1985, coalescing their metal, punk, new wave and goth influences. They first announced their split in 1991 but reunited this year for the first time in 14 years, playing the YouTube Theater in Inglewood last month with the original lineup: Farrell, Navarro, Avery (who opted out of several previous reunion tours) and Perkins.