Richie & Orianthi Belfast 1st July 2014

In Belfast he seemed more relaxed and in tune with the crowd. He made some quite funny little remarks at first "And you all thought I was just the guitar player!" the show moved along at a nice pace and I was once again thrilled at how tight the band were. The show hit a point about 40 minutes in where Richie was soloing and jamming at every opportunity, this is where everything became quite self indulgent, to the point where I noticed my mind wandering. It was like he was enjoying the band more than the occasion, which is not a terrible thing I suppose.

The sound was far better than the previous night and the lighting was superb, I don't know if it was the Ulster Halls in house gear or not but it wasn't used in Dublin.

Richie mentioned U2 again (no one gave a flying f*ck) then came a really strange few minutes. He mentioned his father dying and mumbled a few words and waited for the crowd to react but no one did so he turned away and looked back and said "I need more than that to do this...." then he got a few cheers. So he stood looking at the teleprompter for ages, mumbling every now and then, asked the crowd what they wanted to hear, told them he was going to play what he wanted then the song he wanted came onto the teleprompter and he began singing a U2 song which lead in Seven Years Gone. My heart sank but it was a nice idea, just executed poorly.

Richie was steaming drunk again, his little white tea cup must contain rocket fuel. I also noticed that Orianthi disappeared off stage every 15 minutes or so, powdering her nose maybe?

The show really took off once I'll Be There For You began and from there the crowd was in the palm of Richie's hands and he ran with it. The noise generated was unreal and Richie looked genuinely taken aback.

If Richie got his shit together he could turn these good shows into brilliant ones.

This is actually the very nature of my complaint regarding Richie's recent solo tours. With a little bit of effort and more practice, these shows could become triumphant. He could be brilliant on a constant basis, built a larger fan base and slowly play bigger venues. Noel Gallagher has shown it is possible for middle-aged guitarists to actually re-build their careers. But that does not seem to be Richie's ambition at all. It seems all Richie wants right now is to have a good time on stage with as little effort as possible and get some love from the crowds.

What you end up with are average shows and a lot of unused potential. Funny as it seems, this is the very description that would fit most BJ shows in the past 10 years.

This is what I have always hoped - but it seems as if it ain't gonna happen.

First of all - not mean to be disrespectful (obviously, now I will be) but Noel who???

Secondly - I don't think 'effort and more practice' is what will take Richie's gigs further. I mean, yes, some of that was sloppy and they should have practiced more but that's not what would have made the gigs 'triumphant'. I think they even recognised that after the first show in London and rehearsed more. What Richie is really lacking is experience. Let's not forget, we are talking about a man who has done - what - 50 full set headlining solo gigs in his entire career? If that!! That is nothing, it really is nothing and practicing in your little practice room will not replace that. If you look at the gigs - each of them becomes better. Each time Richie is more confident, more in control, directs the band better etc. Practice can only partially substitute the actual experience. And to conclude - after having watched all of that Paris gig on Youtube - I can only say that Richie is in a great place at this stage of his solo live career. I think he can easily increase popularity (i.e. venue size) if he brings out a decent solo album with some proper promotion. And most importantly is in fact that he doesn't slip completely into whatever form of addiction he was used to. Other than that...I am actually quite optimistic about it. I bet you, we'll still get a lot of awesome music from this man.

It's an interesting point. I wasn't at any of his shows so I can only judge based on setlists and bootlegs but how was he on the Stranger and US tours compared to this front man wise? If we're only going on bootlegs he sounded far tighter with less screw ups on past solo "Tours" so to chalk it up to having no experience might not work, it feels like he's going backwards. Was anyone on here there for earlier shows?

Review - http://belfastmetalheadsreunited.blo...s-tour-of.html

These Days -
I'll Be There For You -
Seven Years Gone (Kite intro) -
Wanted -