I’ve been reading this thread for the last couple of days and as always people’s opinions are so different that it clearly proves it’s impossible to find a fair solution for this situation. Actually I feel sorry for Richie, Jon & band and the fans, especially die-hard fans. It’s a no win situation for everyone. Here’s how I look at this:
RICHIE
Clearly he’s been going through some issues in the last couple of years. There are few things on his defense, kind of. He’s single and without a life partner at this moment (unlike all other band members) and it seems he’s still missing his father. I don’t know if it had anything to do with this but I think that it was late April 2007 when his father died. Maybe all those memories came back during last month and hit him so hard he just couldn’t stop himself from drinking. So he has the right to feel lonely and depressed.
Having said that I still think he’s a grown up man and should be aware of his drinking problems and should not touch a can of beer or a bottle of wine/vodka at all. Not even think about it. He knew very well that they are under the contract until end of July and as a professional artist he should have foreseen the consequences of his actions, how many people it will affect. At this point he let himself down, band members and thousands of fans around the globe. He should be responsible for his actions and he failed again unfortunately.
I am saying all of this with my heart broken because I really care about his guy the most. I still say that his personal life is the most important and I am supporting him as a person 100%. But as an idol and guitar hero he let me down. But it’s a good sign that he wants to change himself. Not for us, but for himself and his family. I wish him good luck on the rehab and I pray for his health and I hope he will win this fight once and for all. Richie, I am with you my brother, for good and the bad (after all, we both have Polish blood in our veins).
JON AND THE BAND
I am really surprised that so many of you blame Jon for not cancelling the shows and again call him greedy devil. This thing is totally not about money imo. Obviously since he’s the leader, he gets the most of lashes even though he’s not the one who failed. Jon is trying to make it the least harmful as possible. He knows that whatever he decides to do, people will complain.
I think Jon made a good decision about continuing the tour. Most of you bash Jon for this decision but keep in mind he’s not the only one making profits of this tour. There is also the main promoter of the tour, venues and of course as someone here mentioned people who are hired to make this tour going. If they cancel the tour just like that it’s not only Jon who loses money, but ordinary roadies too. As a leader he also has to keep that in his mind.
But there should be one more condition to this situation. They should give the option to the people to get a refund if they decide not to go because Richie is not there. Terms & Conditions of the “product” have changed for sure. The key factor (band member) is missing and people will not get what they paid for. Those who don’t care who’s on a lead guitar will go anyway, but the rest would at least have an option.
There is one more thing that came through my mind that Jon had to calculate. Not how less money he will earn as some of you suggest, but more importantly how many people he may upset for the reminder of the tour. No offence to North American citizens, but you’ve had way more shows that the rest of the world on this whole tour. If the band had to decide how to save the tour from total letdown, they might have opted for less evil by playing 13 shows without Richie in North America to have him ready for Europe. Don’t get me wrong, I think that every fan should have the same quality of service they paid for, but if you have an option to disappoint people at 13 shows in arenas (for 20 thousand people at each the most) and about 25 shows in stadiums (for probably something about 30-80 thousand people at each), the amount of people that might be left disappointed is very easy to calculate. Those in North America had much more time and shows to see the band, but Europe (apart from London, Paris, Madrid and Holland) is in fact the last part of the globe that have not witnessed them at all. And Europe is a very important target for them as we all know and a place where they play at their best, and where people care about the music more rather than just a “have fun night out with friends”. If they play without Richie in NA, they will be piss off 13 cities at most but if they play without Richie in Europe they will piss off the whole continent. That’s a big difference. My bet is that might be the main factor that made the whole band decide to have Richie out now, just to have him ready for Europe. I hope I am right on this one.
DIE-HARD FANS
I think it is the problem only for the die-hards like all of us over here. Casual fans won’t feel the difference that much. Most of casual asked about BJ see Jon’s face. They don’t care about other band members, even Richie, and as long as they get to hear the hits and hear Jon, they are happy. Even when I look at YT movies from yesterday’s show, it seems casuals did not feel the difference at all. The new guy is really good and technically he can fill in Sambora’s spot for casuals.
As for the die-hards, well, this is a huge problem. We will see the difference in details. Even when Richie himself messes up we see the difference, so now we will compare them even more. It think it doesn’t matter who will be there in Richie’s spot, it still won’t be the same. We will notice it in every song and especially on solos and backing vocals.
And as I have said before right now the die-hards have only two choices – go to the show and see imitation of BJ or stay at home and lose their money (or partially lose money if somehow they will sell the tickets). So the die-hards have the full right to feel disappointed and let down by the band. If there was this third option that we could get a refund for the tickets, it would be OK. Even if all die-hards would sell their tickets it wouldn’t hit the attendance numbers very much imo, as the casuals are probably 80% of the crowd anyway.
ME
Personally I am extremely sad and torn about all of this. For me Richie is exactly as important as Jon is, or even more. If Jon’s the heart and the head of this band for sure Richie is the soul. For me they are inseparable. It’s the magic between those 2 that makes every show a one to remember for years. If you take one of them out, the magic is simply gone.
I was waiting to write this post about this whole situation until today because I wanted to see how the first show without Richie will look like, who will substitute him etc. so I could judge more or less what will future bring if this situation goes on longer. Now we know who the new guitar player is, Phil X. And to be perfectly honest with you, technically he’s a very good player, as good as Richie or very close to it. But “technically” is not enough for me. And it’s not the man’s fault. It’s just that for me music experience is not about technique only. I know many other guitar players who are better than Richie technically and still none of them grabbed my soul. Only Richie did. When I was watching those YT vids from last night and I closed my eyes technically all the songs seemed Ok, but when I open my eyes and see some other guy on his spot all the magic is gone. There’s that indescribable invisible ingredient that is missing. It’s really hard for me to imagine a song like KTF without Richie. Or TD, can you imagine this one without him? Or STBI? I am not even mentioning Dry County, which is my No1 goal for Dublin shows. Even if they play it and this guy technically nails the solo like Richie still it won’t be the same. No matter how some of you would like to defend it, it won’t be the same. At this point I have no idea whether I will go to Dublin or not. There are many very personal things I have to sacrifice to go there. And I am not talking about the money spent at all. With the full band I decided there are more pros than cons. But at this moment, I think there is not enough pros to make me go there. Those 2 shows so far were the things that kept me going everyday, a thing I was waiting for for months since I bought the tickets. Now I am not so excited anymore.
So I hope and pray that Richie’s ready for the European part of the tour. If he’s not there, probably I will not go. Without him Bon Jovi is not Bon Jovi anymore, at least for me.
It seems that my fav song needs to carry us all more than ever – Keep The Faith - for Richie, Jon, all the fans and myself.
Edit: After writing my post I found Fredrik’s post few pages back and it seems our thoughts are very similar and we agree on most of the things, although I wish we didn’t have to face this problem at all. Fredrik - You know we're gonna live through the rain....KTF
Last edited by Kuba80BJ; 05-01-2011 at 05:22 PM..
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05-01-2011, 02:43 PM
