does anyone still care ?

Exactly Becky - I would much rather Richie was there. But I still enjoyed the 2 shows that I saw last weekend a lot.

And enjoy your show tomorrow night.

I has having fun watching how they managed without him.. I believed the tour was going to have more Jon solo songs though, but then I remembered people are going to a BJ concert..

If this band needed anything, it was new blood. I would have preferred if Jon got knocked off the boat, but at least this is something. Richie checked out years ago anyways. I love him, way more than Jon, but the man hasn't had an original idea in fifteen years.

I care quite a lot since I'm travelling to Europe for the Ireland concerts and Richie not being there is a huge deal for me.

Yeah... I am still very interested. This is unprecedented... a whole leg without 50% of the soul (more or less depending on your opinion) of the band. But anyone who knows about Bon Jovi well enough to spend $100+ on a ticket, should know Richie. And right or wrong, they are carrying on.

Like someone else said, it is kind of a morbid curiousity for me. Honestly, deep down, at first I think I kind of wanted them to fail for thinking they should and eve could carry on without him. For my last show this tour I forked over the big bucks for the pit and travel to Milwaukee. I am invested... so yeah, I am interested.

Phil X is impressive and Jon seems to be putting out a little extra even though the sets aren't too special. It will certainly be different and I am not dreading it like I was initially. I just I hadn't invested so much in this show. I would still attend but if the pit tickets were worth the small fortune I spent before Richie's departure, they are certainly not now.

But anyway, go team go. I am hoping for the best. And dammit, have Phil learn much more from These Days...

I think Phil X has done a good job, he´s a real pro. Of course I miss Richie but things could look a lot worse at the moment.

yeah...without richie it's pointlesss....i sold my zagreb ticket since i'm not sure if richie comes!!

I went to the O2 show which Dave missed last year, and I hadn't expected it to be a big deal but I actually found the show really strange without him. So I have been curious to see how things change without Richie. Phil X seems like a class act, so if Richie's not back by Hyde Park I look forward to seeing him play and seeing how the group performs without Richie - though I expect by that time Jon will have adapted and worked out a new autopilot. I'll be going with my best friend and we're usually a bit sentimental about the Jon/Richie friendship so it would be very weird only seeing Jon. I guess I have the same attitude as a few people on here - I've bought the tickets, and I'm going to try and enjoy the show!

My guess is that whatever happens over the next few weeks will have a massive influence on the band's future. I know there have been a few times people on this board have called make or break in the last few years and the band has always seemed really resilient... But this is a band that have talked about wanting a break for about four years. I'm very curious to see what happens at the end of the tour.

Yeah I do. I'm a BON JOVI fan.

I agree - and Phil X seems to be doing a stellar job filling in and Jon seems happier than he has in a long time. Maybe the worry over whether Richie will make it through a show isn't there anymore and he can relax and feel confident with the rest of the band.

Have fun at the show