Where did it all go wrong :(

Looking at those videos, it'd be nice to think they've resolved whatever their differences were.
And that maybe they'd play together again.

things went wrong when Richie decided to become an asshole

It doesn't need to be as long as Billy's to be a Mullet. Jon's never had one that bad but he's certaintly has had them, or what they call "mullet starters" a few times. This is the most obvious one for me:


Richie however, has had many a clearer mullets throughout his career....

This! We don't know. While we can express our disappointment on how Richie left the band, we can't judge him on why he did so. Surely those two guys know and not necessarily want us to know it inside out. Actually it's like a public divorce. We know the shit happened, the kids are wailing (or in thios case - fans), the public is taking sides but it's still very much a private matter for the people involved. The drama never got to my head, I'm patient. I can still enjoy the music as much as I do.

So funny how people criticize Richie like Jon was an easy person to handle.

Maybe he gave fair warning, who knows? Jon mentioned they had a deal of two years break and he pulled it out, Tico was pissed. Tico, a guy that is not touring or promoting an album, on the other hand the guitar player...

So, who ****ed each other first?

Just a thought. I'm wondering if this so admired by many trait of Jon which once almost drove the band to destruction and which is his unyielding sense of duty, workaholism and the need to please the fans at all costs, was once again the very reason of this internal break up. Since it is definitely not about money (at least not as the main motive), the influence of other people (some crazy folks called Dot the next Yoko Ono - c'mon!) nor the family pressure (Jon 'joked' once that the biggest gift for his family is leaving on tour...hell, I'd prefer to have my father at home without all that luxuries and lusting women all over the world). I stumbled upon one of the old threads on this forum earlier today and one of the members pointed out (it was 2003, mind you!) that even if one of the members did leave (unless Jon), it would carry on. And it's 2017 and the band is touring... Some would say not much has changed and it's even better because it's 'fresh', 'different', 'more dynamic', 'less sloppy', etc. Hell, take out Robin and Batman would still shine...yet, the dynamic duo wasn't invented just because. The same forum member was delighted with the synchronicity of Jon and Rich on the stage. 'Fit somebody like a glove', even if it's old and predictable.

I listen to BJ every day and yet, very rarely check the newest vids. I somehow can't feel it anymore although the music itself will speak to my heart forever.

It turned to "people taking sides and that's wrong" to "Jon's work ethic is at fault" pretty fast. People are allowed to be annoyed at either of the two sides. Some of us have beef with Richie for a wider range of things than him leaving the tour and that's okay. It's when it randomly enters conversations to put down the other that's just not needed.

Who knows if he gave fair warning? We do. If the band had known he was leaving, Phil would have been there that first night. As soon as they found out, they called Phil who was in a grocery store at the moment and he dropped everything and jumped a plane to Canada. There was a bit of delay with the flight so he didn't make it there in time for that first show of the leg. So that Richie didn't think enough of his "brothers" to not leave them and the audience hanging is documented.

Imagine being Phil X getting that call...
Good on him for dropping everything like he did. He seems to be loving the journey, but still... He had a life and plans that changed overnight

so it's ok to just quit your job and leave your ""brothers"" hanging just because you are pissed? Richie is a ****ing asshole and nothing in the world will make me thing otherwise