Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain_jovi
I'm not trying to be rude or trying to be a jerk but sometimes it feels like...like Richie is what brought you the board. I was curious and looked back and your first post here was in the "No Richie on current leg of the tour" thread and I'm genuinely curious if what happened left that bad a taste in your mouth. You're reviewing a video you haven't seen to say it feels like they're subliminally going after Richie. Are you avoiding the video because you don't want to see them without him? I just dont understand why you're avoiding watching it.
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I actually lurked here for a couple years before I ever posted that first time. I was a little intimidated because I'd had a couple of bad experiences posting on fan boards before - primarily because of their clique-ish natures. I thought long and hard before I posted that first time here on JT but, as you all have probably realized by now, I felt very strongly that people were making a mistake in jumping to premature conclusions about what happened in Calgary - or before - and that it would set them irreversibly against Richie before they heard what he had to say. Which, unfortunately, I've watched play out in spades over the last 3 years, just as I feared it might. Some of the people here despise him, even though we still don't know the whole story. And that was confirmed for me again when I went to LA this past weekend - by people who know and like both Jon and Richie. Richie's a good man with a good heart who has been woefully misjudged - primarily by people who once counted themselves among his strongest fans.
But that doesn't answer your question. I just said that to explain that while my first post occurred at that time and subsequent posts seem to be Richie-centered, my interest in this board, and the things we discuss, is the band, although Richie was, and still is, my favorite member of Bon Jovi - past, present, or in all likelihood, future.
But I like all the members and the band as a unit, too. Even Phil - although I'll admit to a certain resistance to the idea of him being an "official" member of the band after Jon saying for so long that Alec would never be replaced - yet seems to be replacing his partner and wingman on the first album following his departure. But that's the Jon we know and love. It's never been a secret that he plays by the rules he makes until they don't meet his needs anymore. *shrug*
I'm sure a huge part of me not being able to stomach the video right now is because I DON'T want to physically see that Richie isn't there. I DON'T want to see Jon pointing at Phil during a guitar solo as if welcoming him to the band - because it seems like a slap in the face not only to Richie, but also to the fans who have hung in with the band despite the fact that some of us feel like there's a huge ****ing hole to Jon's right that Phil will never compensate for, no matter how good he is. I also think it's disrespectful as the dickens to Hugh, who's been standing in the shadows all these years, because Alec wouldn't be replaced, yet now - for whatever reason - he's brought into the light, to justify them doing for Phil what they wouldn't do for Hugh for 20 years. It's been discussed to death at different times on the board - about whether Hugh was okay with his status or not. But how he felt about being considered a member isn't the point to me. It's that it's only being done now, in conjunction with Phil, that makes it seem disrespectful.
If you recall, however, there were
TWO possible scenarios that I alluded to that would possibly give reason for the sudden return to the brotherhood band emphasis And tbh, I'm not crazy about either one. Either of them literally makes me a little queasy - which is why I haven't watched the video even though I truly like the song. The vindictive one, getting back at Richie, was the one you obviously picked up on - and that's understandable, given my history. The other one, the opportunistic one, is a concern that it's nothing more than a marketing ploy - one which worked well for them when they all put their hands in for the KTF cover - in a similar show of solidarity - when people were reporting that the band was done after the NJ tour. And call me naive, but one of the things that has appealed to me most about the band over the years has been a belief in the band of brothers. It would literally (again) almost make me sick to actually see that it's nothing more than the Emperor's New Clothes - just a reliable garment that they pull out of the wardrobe and put on when it suits them.
There is a third scenario, too, that I didn't mention because it's the one I hope to see when I watch the video. That would be the one where I get the feeling that this an honest regrouping based on the realization that for Bon Jovi to continue as a band they ARE going to have to get back to being a true band - with or without Richie. That's as real as the other possibilities - if some lessons have been truly internalized thru this whole cluster****. That option I won't have a problem with.
I just need a few days to deal with the other possibilities before I confront the reality of it, in case one of two less favorable ones is what I see. Maybe I
shouldn't have posted anything until I
had actually watched the video. I don't know; but I guess I was curious to know if anyone else shared the same concerns.
Sorry for another long post but you respectfully asked the question and I felt you deserved a truthful, respectful and thorough answer. So there ya go.