No Richie on current leg of the tour

It is refreshing to see your recent posts and take on the situation. I feel the same way. Both Jon and Richie deserve the benefit of doubt. Bashing is not a reasonable approach. I too had to sit through a Richie-less show for which I had bought tickets in advance, but did not feel the need to be resentful.

I for one was happy to see the band, the real band, one last time in 2011 (Munich) before everything was hung out to dry. Then it had been 10 years ago since I last saw them and it was nice to experience the magic that still was a Bon Jovi show. This, what is now, is not Bon Jovi. It is nothing but an extraordinary way to piss on their own amazing legacy. I have lost every little bit of faith and belief I once had in them, but what they once were and that I was there to experience it will always be with me.

Many albums and too many tours, In the end, it's all gone to hell, the technique, the voice, the magic, the passion.

Remember 2003 set list:


Bounce
You Give Love a Bad Name
Wild in the Streets
Livin' on a Prayer
Everyday
Undivided
Runaway
Just Older
Wanted Dead or Alive
The Distance
It's My Life
Misunderstood
Right Side of Wrong
I'll Be There for You
(Richie Sambora Lead Vocals)
Blaze of Glory
(Jon Bon Jovi song)
Born to Be My Baby
Keep the Faith
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Raise Your Hands

Encore:
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Bad Medicine
(with Shout)



A set list with 22 songs pretty solid. There are only a couple of boring songs. All boys were awesome (when was a band of 5), especially Jon on fire.

Those passionate moments are gone. Now, we have songs of the last decade that really nobody want to hear, Who Says, Lost Highway, What About Now, Because We Can, Amen, We Got it Going On, Follow, I Love This Town..... The best of this tour are the covers into "Sleep When I'm Dead", that's sad.

I was more happy before with Just Older, than now with Lost Highway.

Nice that you only had to sit through 1 Richie-less show, I probably wouldn't be so angry at him if that were the case for me. But between the last 2 tours I have had 11 such shows. All my tickets were bought prior to knowing he wouldn't be there. I don't blame him for the first 4 since that was when he was in rehab. (Actually,I was pissed at Jon for not canceling those). But what has unfolded over the last 8 months has completely changed the way I view Richie and he will always be the guy that walked out like a spoiled child with zero regard for the fans.

I would feel the same after 11 shows w/o Richie. I only saw one and later made the decision not to see them in their fall tour of North America. If Richie had returned, I would have booked the tickets, plane, hotel, et al. Phil X was fine but I just didn't want to go again.

No matter the justifiable comments about Jon's voice/Richie's playing, there is a certain magic in their interactions (whether fake or not) that is missing without him. I don't know if that magic will be there again even if Richie comes back. It is going to take the whole band working together to restore the brotherhood image, not just Richie and Jon. And since Richie and Jon will be asked constantly about the absence and since no one will believe whatever they say, unless they come up with great new music together, fans will continue to fall away. Plus after two tours where Richie was MIA for a time who can trust him to actually be healthy and committed for whole tour?

Aloha !

I take it you've never seen the band on the Bounce tour. Jon wasn't the awesome boy you make him out to be. Most shows were dreadful with Jon very much on auto pilot and sounding absolutely shit. Although I like the sound of the band of those days a lot more, there have been more surprises this tour than there were on the Bounce tour (excluding the acoustic shows). If you were lucky you'd get These Days, and that's pretty much it. You can romance days of the past all you want, but the fact is that pretty much no fan was satisfied with any setlist on the Bounce tour and Jon very much knew. Although that set you posted looks filled with rare stuff, it was all bog standard back then.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I saw them a bunch of times on the Bounce Tour, and I would have taken those sets over the last couple of tours. Get rid of Right Side... or Joey and you've got solid shows. Jon also recognized what the best songs on the album were and played them. That stopped after the Bounce Tour.

I agree with the set list. But still is better than the actual. Undivided, Bounce, Hook Me Up, Everyday, Misunderstood, The Distance, Just Older, Blood on Blood, ... They sounded solid, and yes, Jon had problems at some legs, but overall, the tour was better than the actual.

What I'm trying to say Is that even Bounce tour had great moments to remember. I was in Madrid 2003, was not a great show, Jon's voice had broken (the songs of set list save the night). But there was another 82 shows, and in some legs, shone brightly.

Check to see back in the song list, the most standard of the tour, you will note that the first part of the show was a solid rocker. The final encore was also rock solid.

The evolution of this band to the mainstream pop, has killed the essence and power of the live shows, there is no energy.

Concert promotional tour, as BBC Radio 2 and Stugartt 2013, can not compete with CD UK Promo 2002, Sherperds Bush Empire, Time Square or Zeep Tokyo. They were Kick Ass.

I curse John Shanks.

Well, except The Circle tour and Lost Highway tours both had some pretty amazing sets and moments.

Any possibility of that this tour was killed by Richie.

Again, Promotional tour, BBC Radio 2 and Stugartt 2013, can not compete with CD UK Promo 2002, Sherperds Bush Empire, Time Square or Zeep Tokyo.

It's about making a great show rocker. Damn, it is assumed that this was a rock band.



2002, the last great performance of Bon Jovi in a TV show.

2012, the last great performance of Sambora in a TV show.