After playing thousands of gigs over the years with the many groups he’s been part of — Jane’s Addiction, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, his supergroup Camp Freddy, and many others — Dave Navarro has experienced it all.
And then some.
As of now, the show that’s imprinted on everyone’s mind is his last — the infamous Jane's Addiction date in Boston, on September 13, where Perry Farrell assaulted Navarro toward the end of the set, effectively ending the band’s career.
Justifiably, Navarro hasn’t — and still can’t — say much. But he acknowledges the gig was the “least favorite” of his career.
While the reasons may seem obvious, Navarro explains that what makes a performance good or bad results isn’t down to one thing.
“When it comes to worst and best gigs for me as a musician,” he tells Guitar Player, “there are so many factors. Sometimes it’s the worst venue, the worst crowd participation, or the worst chemistry between band members.”
But there’s a flip side to that.
“There’s are gigs that are my favorite because they had a lot of impact,” he explains. “Maybe on a particular night we went into some experimental direction and got into some explorative jamming that we’d never done and can’t repeat.
“So there are questions I have to say are difficult to answer.”
But having said that, Navarro reveals a pair of shows — the best and the worst — that are memorable for completely different reasons.
The Best: Lou Reed
Navarro’s favorite gig was one he played with his band Camp Freddy, which included drummer Matt Sorum, bass guitar player Chris Cheney, guitarist Billy Morrison, the late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, and Donovan Leitch, the son of folk guitar player and singer Donovan.
“We were a cover band that did shows and invited other musicians to come and perform with us at special events,” Navarro explains. “So we might play [Heart’s] ‘Barracuda’ or ‘Magic Man,’ but we’d have Ann Wilson sing it.
“There are so many magical gigs just from that collection of experiences, but I am a die-hard Lou Reed fan. I’ve always loved him since I was a teenager. I’m a huge Velvet Underground fan, and they were one of my biggest influences — and probably one of the biggest influences on Jane’s Addiction.”
Navarro points to The Velvet Underground & Nico album as a favorite, “just from a historical standpoint, and from being an art lover, and having it be produced by Andy Warhol, and being part of that New York Factory scene. It just doesn’t get cooler than that as a concept.
“So around 2000, I decided I wanted to cover the song ‘Venus in Furs’ from that album, but I felt that I should get Lou Reed’s blessing."
The late performer, however, was not known for being an easy hang.
“Lou Reed was historically very difficult to get along with," Navarro says. "He didn’t warm up to people easily. Some people would say that he was combative in interviews, and I like that about him. He just seemed like this untouchable guy.
“Somehow or another, I got my version of ‘Venus in Furs’ to Lou, and he liked it. He said, ‘Yes, of course. He has my permission. I’d like to meet him.’”
A meeting was arranged at a restaurant in New York City’s Little Italy. But if Navarro expected a welcome reception, he was deeply disappointed.
“I got to this little restaurant, and I’m with a publicist,” he recalls, “and Lou — the guy didn’t look at me. He didn’t acknowledge me or say anything to me. I could have been invisible.”
Navarro isn’t sure why, but he impulsively blurted out to Reed his feelings about a song from his 1973 album, Berlin, a dark concept record about drug addiction and abuse that divided critics and fans upon its release.
“And for some reason, I turned to him and said, ‘I’ve got to tell you, one of my favorite songs off the Berlin album is “The Bed.”’
“He looked at me, his eyes lit up, and he goes, ‘That is my favorite song that I ever wrote.’
"From that moment on, it was like I said the magic words. And I don’t know how this happened, but we ended up going back to his apartment and hanging out until three o’clock in the morning, in New York, at Lou Reed’s place.
“We talked about everything. No subject was off the table, and we talked a lot about his record, Metal Machine Music."
A two-album set of ear-blistering modulated electric guitar feedback and noise, Metal Machine Music is among the most reviled albums in rock history. But Navarro's knowledge of it only seemed to further Reed's trust in him.
I walked away with Lou Reed as a friend, which I did not expect, because he was a very difficult guy to get close to.”
— Dave Navarro
“And long story short, I walked away with his blessing to do ‘Venus in Furs.’ And I walked away with Lou Reed as a friend, which I did not expect, because he was a very difficult guy to get close to.”
It was several years later when Navarro extended an invitation for Reed to perform “Venus in Furs” with Camp Freddy at a benefit show in New York City. Reed agreed, as long as they also played “The Blue Mask,” the title cut from his 1982 album.
“Now ‘The Blue Mask’ is as deep of a cut as they come, you know?” Navarro says. “Like, he just threw that at us because that’s how he was.”
“And by the way, what you hear on the record is not what he does live. So, as a band, you have to pay attention to where he is vocally. He changes the cadence, the timing, and sometimes he skips moments.
“So we were all back on our heels, trying to learn these songs. And we learned them perfectly. You couldn’t tell the difference between the record and the way we played them.”
The night before the gig, Reed showed up to rehearse with the band.
“We start playing the songs, and he turns around and goes, ‘What the hell is this?’ We were all stunned. We were like, ‘This is “The Blue Mask.”’
“He goes, ‘No, it doesn’t go like that. It goes like this.’ He grabbed his guitar and started playing it a totally different way, which had absolutely nothing to do with what we heard on the record.
“So we tried to cram that together quickly."
"Venus in Furs" was next.
"And again, we start playing the song, and he turns around, and he’s got a grimace on his face," Navarro recalls. "He goes, ‘What the hell are you guys doing?’ I was like, ‘Well, this is “Venus in Furs.” This is how it goes…’
“He’s like, ‘No, no,’ grabs a guitar, and starts playing these chords that I’ve never heard in the song.”
Navarro laughs at the memory.
“He goes, ‘It’s like this.’
“And he turns back around to us, and says, ‘Nothing modal.’
“That was the quote of the night: ‘Nothing modal.’”
And he turns back around to us, and says, ‘Nothing modal.’ That was the quote of the night: ‘Nothing modal.’”
— Dave Navarro
Navarro was rightly fearful of what might happen on performance night. But from the start, there were signs that Reed would be all right when he showed up backstage wearing the shirt he wore on the cover of Metal Machine Music.
"And he goes, 'Dave, look at this!' He remembered that little moment of our conversation from that first night,” Navarro says, ”went home, dug out this shirt. He thought I would dig it.
“I was like, I can’t fucking believe Lou Reed went through that trouble, especially after what happened at the rehearsal.”
The performance went off without a hitch.
“It couldn’t be more perfect. And when we did ‘The Blue Mask,’ he looks over at me, and goes, ‘Yeah, it’s pretty good.’ I was like, Great, we dodged one there!
"Then, we did ‘Venus in Furs,’ and it’s the only time in all of my interactions with him that the guy turned to me and had the hugest smile on his face. He just nodded to me, like, ‘Yes, this is right. This is great. I’m having a great time, and you guys are playing this fantastic.’
“I have a lot of idols and heroes, and a lot of them are dead. But I got to play with Lou Reed.”
The Worst: Jane's Last
Navarro looks back on Jane’s Addiction’s final tour with a sense of irony. Although fighting the effects of long COVID, he was happy to have the group back together.
“There were a couple of gigs on this last run that we did last year in Europe with Eric Avery back on bass that were some of my favorite Jane’s Addiction gigs of all-time. There was no bullshit: No props. No nothing onstage. No dancing, no pyro, and no gimmicks. It was just the four of us and some colored lights, and we were playing the songs, expanding on them, and getting in a kind of weird.
"If you combined Grateful Dead and Radiohead, there were moments like that — just weird, experimental jams that we’d never done before as a band.
“And yet, if you were to ask me what my least favorite gig was, it would be a gig last September, on Friday the 13th, in Boston.”
Navarro relates his feeling cautiously, for good reason.
“I have to speak in broad strokes here, because there are other individuals involved,” he says, “and it’s still very tender and unresolved.
“There was an altercation onstage, and all the hard work and dedication and writing and hours in the studio, and picking up and leaving home and crisscrossing the country and Europe and trying to overcome my illness — it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life. And there's no chance for the band to ever play together again.
“I have to say that’s my least favorite gig, without throwing animosity around, and without naming names and pointing fingers, and coming up with reasons.
There was an altercation onstage, and it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life."
— Dave Navarro
“I’ll just say that the experience prior to that gig, when we were in Europe and gelling, really, for the first time — because at our ages, in our 50s and 60s, everybody’s done what they’re gonna do, and we weren’t competitive with each other — we were getting along. There was no ego issue; it was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning. I was just us on a stage, with people going fucking crazy.
“And that gig, September 13th, in Boston, ended all of that. And for that reason, that is my least favorite gig that I have ever played.
“I think that’s a pretty democratic way, you know, a pretty bipartisan way to go about it. You know, just the real sadness is the loss of that previous…” he says, trailing off to collect his thoughts.
“The experiences are there,” he begins, “but the potential of having those types of experiences ended that night. And so, you know…. it is what it is. And that’s my answer.”
