In interviews for Keep the Faith Jon said that one reason for the tension among the band members at the end of the NJ tour was that they weren’t talking to each other and believed some of their quotes in the press. Does Richie think that has happened in the current situation? (referring specifically to the quote attributed to Jon about The Edge and “I hate my brother, I’m quitting the band” and Richie’s response that “Jon needs to stop talking trash; this is a private matter.” Did Richie really email Jon saying, “Hire The Edge”?
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The big issue for a lot of fans seems to be Richie’s abrupt departure from the tour after it had already started. It might help if he explained why the band wasn’t notified before 3:30 on the day of the show. Given Jon’s implied lack of surprise at the news that Richie wasn’t going to be in Calgary, were there previous discussions about the possibility that Richie would not return to the tour after break? Without going into detail about his personal reasons, can he say if something happened after the tour began that may have contributed to his decision to step away after the tour started, rather than before?
Richie stated in an interview that before the tour started he told the band he wasn’t ready to tour but the others wanted to go ahead with it. How does that work? What would have happened if Richie had simply refused before the tour actually started? Would it have stopped the tour cold until everyone was on board? Would someone like Phil-X have been hired so the band could tour without Richie?
Prior to the tour, Richie and Jon were quoted as saying that they would be performing material from their respective solo work on tour. That didn’t happen. Can Richie tell us why?
In preparing for Soundwave, is Richie considering some of the music he’s done outside of Jovi or his solo albums, like Blood on the Ground, You Never Really Know, Mr. Sambo, or covers like When a Blind Man Cries and The Wind Cries Mary? Is he concerned about playing for people that expect a harder edge to the music?
In July Richie tweeted "...Aftermath is a pretty accurate depiction of who I am..." and “…All I can say is Aftermath is the path to know who I am.” Both tweets seemed to respond to fans asking about his reasons for not touring. After those tweets, I played AOTL, listening deliberately for references that could be about life on the road vs a need to take a step back. I heard numerous examples where that could be the case. For example, on the surface You Can Only Get So High seems to be about the negative effects of substance abuse, but it could also be that the rock lifestyle is the “good times” that “sing the same old story, but leave out how the bill is getting paid.” “I ain’t quittin’, I’m just splittin’ for a while,” and “one more victory lap before you say goodbye,” seem to have foreshadowed the events of the past year. Listening with ‘different ears’, there seemed to be such references in almost every song on AOTL. Is that what Richie referred to in his tweets? If so, could he give specific examples that we may have missed?
How does Richie decide which songs make the cut for albums. Is there a chance Forgiveness Street, Backseat Driver, and Secret Place might make be on a future release? At what point in the process did he write Backseat Driver?
Given the lackluster ticket sales for solo shows in the US, compared with the European shows, has his faith in the support from US fans faltered? Will he still attempt shows in the US to promote future albums?
With everything that’s happened - the backlash from the fans, getting to spend time with Ava, joining forces with Orianthi, where does he see himself now? How is he feeling?
02-11-2014, 01:39 AM
