No Richie on current leg of the tour

and thick of thieves

I don't think so. He replied to every negative tweet about it, he loves it. Why bring Richie up when he doesnt have to at all?

C'mon, the guy gets everybody reading stuff into tweets that absolutely have nothing to do with Richie at all, do you believe he didn't think twice before tweeting something like that? I don't know what he was trying to convey (probably just wanted to reassure people that he doesn't have anything against Richie or his album), but it must have been intentional. He also specifically tagged Richie in it, so Richie will be notified.

I honestly believe the guy was listening to the record while he was at the gym and wanted to share it, maybe it crossed his mind "Richie fans are going to love this" before pressing "Tweet". Tagging is something that almost everyone does on Twitter: you talk about Spotify, you put @Spotify, you talk about Wallmart, you put @Wallmart. Is not like Facebook tagging. Or maybe yes, he wanted him to know that he was listening to the record, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Matt might be a dick, but he's a simple dick. He doesn't think things that much.

Richie's voice is all over the album, it's very prominent on almost every track. His playing is simply auto-pilot. I don't doubt for a second the solos are him and some of the leads but the rhythm tracks are questionable.

No way in hell the BWC solo is Jon. He attempted it the first show Richie was gone, before Phil, and he botched it bad. It's Richie.

I agree with you. I don't think Matt tweets just like that, I think this tweet about Richie was in purpose, to make fun of him. and to see how many fans still support him. that's sad.
generally he likes controversy very much and he likes to sit down after tweeting like this and watch fans arguing. saddest thing is that he's very rude to them. what a nice attitude this man has! he divides the fans, like it wasn't enough already that he destroyed the fan base. this is my opinion.

I'm not going to comment on Matt specifically as he is a friend but I can say (knowing him and his relationship with Richie) that the tweet was definitely NOT sarcastic and not making fun of Richie in any way.

oh lord, what kind of friends do you have

I didn't think Matt was being sarcastic, either. If there was any intent behind the Tweet, I think it was to show solidarity with Richie, especially since he tagged Richie in the Tweet.

Honestly, no matter how much of a tool Matt can come across, I think his thought process was that lots of people were picking up on Jon's comments and his apparent lack of empathy for RS. Plus, with 'Edge-Gate' ... I think this was Matt's way telling Richie he is still respected and wanted; hence the follow up tweet calling him his 'brother' again.

Jon's press this week has really put a lot of sh*t back at Richie's door, which we presume he deserves. Matt is just trying to defuse a situation I think.