Phil X

The Kurt Deimer thing seems to be lucrative enough in that he's taking none of the financial risk and getting a paycheck for it. I'm not sure how it would work with Bon Jovi as far as salary goes but I hope to god a retainer fee is still standard industry practice to keep his schedule open enough to be available for JBJ. Even if he's not getting paid like a full band member I have to believe he'd be getting at least the same treatment that Bandiera was getting during his time touring with BJ....

You can't really compare The Drills to Sambora to be honest. The Drills couldn't sell out at 150 capacity club when they were here right before Covid. Last time Richie played here he was still doing his own shows (not the charity shows with Niles etc) he was doing 2000+ cap venues. Of course I'm talking about the UK here. That was a few years ago now but I have no reason to think his fan base has decreased any since then.

There's next to no money in this kind of project. I expect this is a case of Phil helping a buddy out here.

He will 100% be getting a retainer fee.

Sorry I was confused when one singer was mentioned and then the YouTube was posted from the charity gig. Also I'm not familiar with Jeff Scott Soto. I guess I need to check YouTube to see if I can find him.

To be fair, I wasn't comparing them to each other. I was making the point they both have a limited audience. The Drills are going to pull club numbers where they go, sure, but Richie is limited to the UK. Obviously RS is a MUCH bigger draw.

It's hard to say if his fanbase has increased or decreased. When you perform sporadically and a percentage of the time the shows are sometimes chaotic but sometimes great, you don't put out new music, I don't know if you can pull the same numbers as time passed.

Richie's fanbase is pretty loyal. Sure he lost a chunk when he left the band, but since then I think anyone that would have gone to see him after he left, would still do so now. But yeah, time will tell.

I guess Richie could do a few 2-3,000 seat shows around Europe, maybe a couple of shows in some countries. I doubt he is picking up many new fans, especially after the last decade, but he has a fairly loyal fanbase. Perhaps a 10-15 data tour in Europe playing those kinds of venues on the back of a new album. Do you guys think that's about right or would be too ambitious?

As for the Drills, they are not getting anywhere near that obviously.

Yeah, I would say that is about right. Maybe a little smaller in some European countries. To be honest I think he could easily do a 10 show run of dates that size here in the UK if he wanted to, but he usually only seems to do a few.

You're right about not picking up any new fans, but the fans that he does have are indeed pretty loyal to him.

I found Jeff Scott Soto on YouTube. What a voice! How did I miss this guy? Phil X will really fit in with him for sure.

Yup. he's fantastic - looking forward to this project - hopefully they will put an album together! This is exactly the kind of thing I want to hear from Phil. with JSS and Mikey it has the potential to be a monster!

Phil just did an IG Q+A. Very short and when someone asked about Bon Jovi, he said 2024 there will be a world (or at least what they consider a world) tour so at this point it sounds like he's still involved in that capacity.