Richie at the O2 Academy , Islington (London)

The people saying Richie isn't drunk are probably the same ones who said he wasn't drinking on the HAND tour or prior to his rehab stints. The ones saying he's always been like this are also just burying their heads in the sand.

He's on something and it's making him act like a dope. That entrance was like something out of Wacko Jacko's repertoire.

Saying that, Seven Years gone and Prayer sounded okay. The new drummer has more of a feel for the songs, Richie seems to give him less cues than the last guy.

If a YouTube video shows how shit Jon's voice has come, why is it not good enough to show Richie's. Saying he is singing it how he wants to is a dumb argument, simply because he is out of tune a lot of the time. So I ask, why would Richie want to sing songs out of tune?

Unfortunately, whether you are using multi-million dollar equipment or the microphone on your old feature phone, sloppy guitar play, missed notes, poor phrases, and not bending to tune are all noticeable. These criticisms say nothing of the atmosphere or thrill of being there in the moment, but they are points that do not need attendance to be valid. The multi-million equipment makes him sound better than he is to the people who are there, would be another way of looking at it right?

Is he drunk or high? I couldn't care less is the honest answer, but he looks and behaves like an utter shambles. If he is not intoxicated he is just a fukking tool. He said he lacked freedom, but it seems he is pulling much of the same crap that Jon does. Phoning in performances, playing and singing poorly, and creating shit setlists.

All this he made records, he has millions etc is not an argument, I would run rings around him playing guitar right now, and I bet there are other people here who would to. The saddest part of that statement is that it wouldn't even be hard to do so.

The more i read this the more i totally agree with it. Its the same when i go to a Jovi concert.

For me its more than just the actual gig itself, its the build up, the being in pubs before the gig with Jovi music on and everyone coming together sharing something we all love.

I get a thrill knowing my favorate band are in the same venue as me! heck even in the same country !

All the concerts i have been to i have loved! sure if you look back at you tube videos days after you are reminded on here that after 2 mins and 45 seconds of a certain clip Jons voice goes wonky! but so what?

At that time in the stadium you are surrounded by everyone jumping, dancing, singing and generally having a blast.

I have never noticed live Jons voice or any of the band being off key, and yes that might be a failing of mine but i dont care! Generally the only thing i hear at a Jovi concert is my voice and full pelt!

So yes i was as guilty as anyone judging Richie's concert on a few clips and i was wrong! as for me unless you are there then thats when you get the full picture!

I want another Jovi tour right now! i miss the whole experience and if that makes me a fanboy then so be it!

I don't wanna' blow my own trumpet but when Richie said that a couple of people requested stick to your guns...well that was my friend and I!

Absolutely chuffed to bits, These Days was mindblowing. Great, great night. Richie was definitely hammered lol.

This is fine.

I think the problem is that last time Richie was in Europe he felt thankful that he got an opportunity to play sold out concerts and that people actually cared about him without Jon. Now it seem that Richie is taking this tour for granted already and he think he is the biggest rock star in the world. He is now the boss, the biggest guy on stage. He can do what ever he wants. He is not focusing on anything he is doing. There is no Jon who keeps him focused and expects something from him. And that is what's clearly happening right now in my opinion. He is obviously not training enough either. He think what he does right now is enough for the fans.

And what comes to his drinking or using some drugs, I have no idea about that but I think 90% of his behavior is due to his big ego and the fact that he is the boss right now and he is letting it show.

But he was drunk for the most of the HAND tour, all the Lost Highway promo stuff and at a lot of shows on the GH tour. I don't buy the ego / boss thing at all. I doubt he ever took life style orders from Jon.

I was there and had a great time.

If there's an issue for me it's that Richie was wanting to improv too much and at times the fans almost drove the direction too far with their own desire to sing along. So he was running too many things on the fly. A few times he said about jumping to a section of the song so the band could follow a change but obviously that throws off the clicked/TelePrompter aspect of a more professional performance. So an older rocker trying to be tech savvy to prolong performing but also wanting to cut loose. That's going to throw any person off at first and as a warm up gig of sorts expectations should be lowered slightly. Jon has given little room for anything in years to the point that shows will sound the same. So I'm not going to criticise Richie for trying to be a rocker again and going off script rather than just being a performance musician. He's in a band again rather than being part of a performance piece.

The cocaine comment as I remember it was that musicians need to play wild and free, like horses would on cocaine. The losing his balls thing already covered here and to me was cheeky Richie having a dig at venue management.

I've not looked at any videos (not sure I will if they'll taint my memories), but to me once the crowd reacted well to Every Road he knew he was going to have a blast. Thanks to some shoddy organisation with queues outside I was maybe 10 rows from the front, but still near enough to know that it sounded like most in front and behind were singing along where you'd expect. And Richie appeared to appreciate the recognition of the Aftermath songs.

Shepherds Bush and the mini tour in 2012 introduced the Aftermath album to many people who I think were expecting more Bon Jovi covers, but he goes with Bon Jovi covers that provoke a positive crowd reaction (yes even Who Says!). The letdown for me with Islington was that the additional other covers using up valuable time for more of his own songs. With Orianthi there it was always going to be a heavier driven set list and I think that pushed aside him doing other options first. But it was a list of Richie expressing himself. We are all used to Jon's ideas on what we should hear from Bon Jovi and as a setlist it showed Richie knew he wasn't playing soon for his usual crowd, at Download, but needed to entertain them still.

I was entertained.

I'm pretty sure Jon had effect on pretty much everything what Richie and the other guys did during their tours. And I know he was drunk during those tours but I don't think it is the alcohol or drugs which is making him act the way he does right now.

bon jovi covers??? They are as much his songs as Jons so they are no covers.