No Richie on current leg of the tour

I wonder why some of Richie fans really hate Jon this much.....
Two of my jovi friends went his LA show and one of them (she's a huge Richie fan) said to me that many of Richie fans there spoke ill of Jon and she got disgusted by them....Really shame.

Aloha !

Good post, I agree with pretty much everything you said. It'd be nice if people would stop acting like their hormones are playing up and just keep thinking rationally.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I really am struggling to understand people in this group.

I think Jesse and Jackie speak a huge amount of sense - logical and objective - but then there are others who don't see the irony in getting outraged when someone says Jon is to blame and, in almost the same post, blame Richie without any knowledge of anything at all.

I've worshiped at the alter of rock and roll for almost 30 years ... Jon and Richie have been dual Gods who've got me through hard times with their music, and also inspired me to create my own.
I have every bit of material they've ever produced, bought legally several times over on many different formats. I've got four different versions of New Jersey, one in Spanish for some reason.
Could I choose between them? No, that'd be like choosing a child to be taken away on for a secret uber-government plot to survive an alien colonisation ....

We all may have our gut feelings about what may have happened - that's only natural. And it can be good to share the rumours and theories.
But WHY, OH WHY does it have to descend into negativity from certain quarters? Sure, I may have been guilty of jumping to a conclusion at one stage, based on NOTHING. Nothing.
But now we're at a stage where it looks like Richie won't be back for this tour, surely it's time to stop trying to blame someone.
Stop saying Richie walked. We don't know that.

WE DON'T.

We've only heard an explanation of what happened, partially, from one person - Jon.
And he's the poor son of a B who is ploughing on with the tour - well done, if that's meant hundreds of crew stay in work and thousands of fans don't get disappointed if they're not fussed about Sambongo being there.
We don't know WHY we haven't heard from RS. But let's not start hating on him for it just yet.

And as for Phil X - as much as I may love Richie, how on earth can anyone moan about Phil? The guy's come onboard and done a great job. As far as I can tell, he's nailed some of the guitar work, while bringing his own thing to the show. You can't fault him.

Bobby, however ....

For what it's worth, it wasn't meant as a personal statement about you or anyone else- just a reflection on this argument in general. It does seem to be the case though that on trying to bring balance to the argument, Jon often has questions asked of him, and I've yet to understand why. I'd imagine there definitely is some kind of discord among the band now, but I can't see anything that confirms it from before Richie left.

Any comment attributed to Richie since- unless it was on Twitter- is still at this point unverified, but if true hints at problems with Jon's handling of the situation since, not before. The interviews with Jon, have again come after the event, and I'd think that no matter Richie's reasons, Jon is entitled to be pissed off that Richie bailed on the tour and left him to face the music.

I get that we're working on assumptions a lot of the time, but it seems a lot of folk are assuming Jon played his part, but I think that comes from our own perceptions of the WWWB interviews and CEO remark. As has been said, if he was this tyrannical monster some have painted him to be since then, the rest of the band, his family, his friends- they all would have stopped coming back a long time ago. Yet Richie gets painted as the victim of Jon's oppression when you could argue its his ego that has caused this. If it is about musical issues, or his album or whatever, why is it often assumed Richie is the hero for being true to himself or having integrity? Is it not as likely that Richie has rocked the boat, sulking because he believes his album deserves more prominence? Or arrogantly thinking he's now too good for Jovi's music? Who knows? It's just frustrating that people keep pointing to Jon when Richie is as likely to be culpable for this, if not more. There's nothing but assumption dragging Jon into it.

And as for people having a go at Richie, some of it is justified. We still don't know his reasons for leaving so yes, we should reserve judgement on that front, but his tweeting has been completely unprofessional and frankly disrespectful at times, and legitimises some of the anger towards him. Coming out and saying everything's good and he's f***ing great has tested people's support and whatever way you look at it, it was stupid to make those remarks.

I am confused by this; Jackie's comment that you highlighted isn't exactly negative, you're being HYPER sensitive here. She merely pointed out something Jon has clearly intimated himself and come to a conclusion many of us have... whatever this is, Jon knew about it, it's not a mystery and he half expected it. I know someone on this board tore Glen Osrin a new one on Twitter for suggesting that and now it's happening on here. Come on people, let's stay objective.

This isn't aimed directly at you Amy, but, for what it's worth...

Since I left these boards I've been back to lurk, course I have; and it's a shame people like Seb and Panda only come on to wind everyone up during PBPs, I am sure objectivity used to be what made Jovitalk great. There's no point in getting into a debate with the people who are left here, the kind of people who go ten rounds just repeating the same argument '**** YOU, JON IS A LOVELY, LOVELY MAN' or those who just don't want to hear anything but praise. I can't believe how many times I read 'if you're just going to criticise, why do you come here?' Well, I ask in return; If you just want consistent, non-stop eulogising, why do you come to a place of open and free discussion and attempt to Police it? I watched a programme on Scientology last night and it kinda reminded me of the Jonologists on this board!

I am not anti-Jon. I grew up idolising the guy. I take no pleasure in what I think or feel about the direction this band has gone in or what I feel about their live shows now. For those thinking 'YEAH, right!' If I did take pleasure in it, I would have posted my review of the IOW festival but it's not worth it, I'd get torn apart for it. So, I'll just say I danced, I cheered along and enjoyed an evening with the missus. My last evening watching Jon Bon Jovi.

So this really will be my last post here because I am following the advice of those Jonologists... this band don't have anything for me, any more and this board and sadly this epic thread, has been taken over; beating back those with alternative opinion, those with the ability to divide and spark interesting and informative debate. If you're guilty of being one of these people, you'll enjoy replying and dishing out the usual comments like 'Go and listen to These Days, you dinosaur!' - I will. I'm not embarrassed by that, because it's a f*cking awesome album. I honestly mean no offense, this place just isn't for me anymore because this band are no longer in my heart - so rather than troll you and make your life miserable, I'm off.

Cheers guys and girls...

Well, lets narrow it down. Last 29 years shows, I'd give Richie 9,5/10. Phil gets 0'5/10. So I'LL repeat- Richie is better job of being Bon Jovi's guitarist than Phil is right now.

And have you heard Richie's chorus? Even in his last shows it was better than Phil, he writes magnificent songs. I would like to have him back.

Good post. I feel the same way.

As guitar player, Phil is miles ahead of Rich. People complaining seem to complain for all the "wrong" reasons. Based on only the ability to use one's tool, I'd take Phil any day. But that's not all of it. I too think that when it comes to "Bon Jovi" as a band, Rich (even at his worst) is essential part of the band and its chemistry. Jon could easily go on as solo act, in that even Bobby would fit in just fine.

Either way, I still think Jon sucks live and I don't see any point paying to witness that.

Haha, the irony.

I said your point was borderline retarded, not that you were. Untwist those knickers.

I think you're missing the point here. Richie IS NOT BEING Bon Jovi's guitarist right now! I'd love to see him back too, but that doesn't mean I'll do what you're doing and trash Phil X. He is a great guitarist. Does he fit into Bon Jovi as seamlessly as Sambora? No, but he's growing into it, and with each passing night is pulling off a more and more accomplished performance. You sir, need to remove the blinkers and realise that Phil X is saving the day right now and cut the guy some slack.

And I don't get why you keep banging on about his songwriting? I don't go to shows to watch someone sit with a pen and some paper. He may have helped write some great songs, but he isn't bloody there to play them.