[Bounce7800]

My first ever concert that Shepherds Bush show, just for a sec I thought it would be a video link

[Thinny]

Originally Posted by Bounce7800

My first ever concert that Shepherds Bush show, just for a sec I thought it would be a video link

Ahh, sorry to get your hopes up!

[Thinny]

A friend of mine had found out what hotel Richie was staying at and afterwards we went there and waited for him, there was only a few of us. Only time I have ever done anything like that, but I'm so glad I got the chance to meet him, shake his hand and tell him how much the "Stranger" album meant to me! He was so sweet and humble. Met the rest of his band too and they were all really cool, especially Kasim Sultan (also Meat Loaf's bass player) and Tommy Mandel, who was also Bryan Adams' keyboard player. Tommy hung out with us for ages chatting and saying how much more fun and chilled out it was touring with Richie than with Bryan!

He also told us how Richie had made Heather a wooden box before he left to go on tour to keep the letters that he wrote to her while he was away. He would write them regularly, the old romantic!

Jon wasn't at the hotel, or at least didn't arrive with Richie and the band.

I have a framed picture on my wall with Richie from that night, with the peice of paper that he signed and the tickets to both nights!

[JackieBlue]

Originally Posted by Rdkopper

I...I was actually at the academy theater show in NYC show and still have my ticket stub to prove it... I walked out of the show and down the streets of NYC with the guys from a band called Trixter... talking about how great the show was...

Ok, it's official: I'm jealous. I may, in fact, be turning green.

That is my absolute favorite YT video, even with the lousy quality!!

[DavetheGodofKeys]

Originally Posted by Thinny

A friend of mine had found out what hotel Richie was staying at and afterwards we went there and waited for him, there was only a few of us. Only time I have ever done anything like that, but I'm so glad I got the chance to meet him, shake his hand and tell him how much the "Stranger" album meant to me! He was so sweet and humble. Met the rest of his band too and they were all really cool, especially Kasim Sultan (also Meat Loaf's bass player) and Tommy Mandel, who was also Bryan Adams' keyboard player. Tommy hung out with us for ages chatting and saying how much more fun and chilled out it was touring with Richie than with Bryan!

He also told us how Richie had made Heather a wooden box before he left to go on tour to keep the letters that he wrote to her while he was away. He would write them regularly, the old romantic!

Jon wasn't at the hotel, or at least didn't arrive with Richie and the band.

I have a framed picture on my wall with Richie from that night, with the peice of paper that he signed and the tickets to both nights!

Damn, I'm jealous. But seriously, this is so cool! It must've been amazing to get that close to Richie and to hang out with the rest of the band!

[JackieBlue]

Originally Posted by Thinny

A friend of mine had found out what hotel Richie was staying at and afterwards we went there and waited for him, there was only a few of us. Only time I have ever done anything like that, but I'm so glad I got the chance to meet him, shake his hand and tell him how much the "Stranger" album meant to me! He was so sweet and humble. Met the rest of his band too and they were all really cool, especially Kasim Sultan (also Meat Loaf's bass player) and Tommy Mandel, who was also Bryan Adams' keyboard player. Tommy hung out with us for ages chatting and saying how much more fun and chilled out it was touring with Richie than with Bryan!

He also told us how Richie had made Heather a wooden box before he left to go on tour to keep the letters that he wrote to her while he was away. He would write them regularly, the old romantic!

Jon wasn't at the hotel, or at least didn't arrive with Richie and the band.

I have a framed picture on my wall with Richie from that night, with the peice of paper that he signed and the tickets to both nights!

That's such a cool story!! I love reading stuff like that! Sounds like you had a great experience not just with him but with the band, too.

When I met him at Norm Harris's book signing he came across exactly that way. Genuinely kind and humble. I had taken a silver guitar pic necklace from the SITT promo pack and after he signed my book, I handed him the pic and asked if he would initial it because I knew there wasn't enough room for him to sign it. He held it for a couple seconds before he started initialing it and when he handed it back, he said, "That's what the pics I used to give away looked like." I looked at it and it had his initials with the Jersey star between them. It doesnt sound like much, I know, but I was so impressed by the way he didn't just scribble his initials, but actually took a second to think about how he could make it special for me.


And this is just weird; but right before I saw this post, I had just (literally a few minutes ago) re-read an old article from an interview Heather did while they were still married and she talked about that wooden box!!

She said the box was made of the same wood his guitar was made from and that she had so many letters stuffed in it, she couldn't get any more in it. She said she didn't know what she was going to do with the rest of them, maybe get a mailbag or something.

[Thinny]

Originally Posted by DavetheGodofKeys

Damn, I'm jealous. But seriously, this is so cool! It must've been amazing to get that close to Richie and to hang out with the rest of the band!

It's something i will never forget for sure!

[Thinny]

Originally Posted by JackieBlue

That's such a cool story!! I love reading stuff like that! Sounds like you had a great experience not just with him but with the band, too.

Definitely, everyone was great!

Originally Posted by JackieBlue

When I met him at Norm Harris's book signing he came across exactly that way. Genuinely kind and humble. I had taken a silver guitar pic necklace from the SITT promo pack and after he signed my book, I handed him the pic and asked if he would initial it because I knew there wasn't enough room for him to sign it. He held it for a couple seconds before he started initialing it and when he handed it back, he said, "That's what the pics I used to give away looked like." I looked at it and it had his initials with the Jersey star between them. It doesnt sound like much, I know, but I was so impressed by the way he didn't just scribble his initials, but actually took a second to think about how he could make it special for me.

That's brilliant! I love that!

Originally Posted by JackieBlue

And this is just weird; but right before I saw this post, I had just (literally a few minutes ago) re-read an old article from an interview Heather did while they were still married and she talked about that wooden box!!

She said the box was made of the same wood his guitar was made from and that she had so many letters stuffed in it, she couldn't get any more in it. She said she didn't know what she was going to do with the rest of them, maybe get a mailbag or something.

No way! That is really weird! I have never even heard of that wooden box being mentioned, apart from that night by Tommy! What are the chances!? Spooky!!

[Rdkopper]

Originally Posted by JackieBlue

Ok, it's official: I'm jealous. I may, in fact, be turning green.

That is my absolute favorite YT video, even with the lousy quality!!

It was definitely cool... there was still that mystique surrounding those guys... They were young, I was younger and wanted to be them... Even though they were on stage and I was on the floor, just being in the same room was surreal... There was nobody cooler than Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora...

That feeling when I go to shows now is long gone... but I'm still here today...

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

[bonjovi90]

Originally Posted by Rdkopper

It was definitely cool... there was still that mystique surrounding those guys... They were young, I was younger and wanted to be them... Even though they were on stage and I was on the floor, just being in the same room was surreal... There was nobody cooler than Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora...

That feeling when I go to shows now is long gone... but I'm still here today...

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

I guess that also has a connection to the way the internet and the social media just changed everything. For example even I, who grew up in the 90's, find myself longing back to that era from time to time. Because many things were simply left to ones imagination and you didn't see and hear everything before. My first concerts in 2003 and 2006 were outstanding as I had no idea what was coming up and it still had that vibe of being something really special.

That feeling is gone now, you're right about that.