If this is somewhere else, I've not seen it. PhilX is promoting the charity for Charlotte, a child with Leukemia and her insurance does not cover a lot of the treatment - he just added on twitter to the auction today a guitar signed by Jon. I've added the link - he's put together some pretty nice collectors pieces. Hope they raise a ton of money, if I had it, I'd be bidding. Thought some of you might be interested.

http://www.32auctions.com/organizati...reset_filter=1

Phil X ‏@TheRealPhilX 2h2 hours ago

yo my Twitter peeps, check me out on @955KLOS with Denise Westwood tomorrow at 6 am. #adayforcharlotte , a bit o' singin' & some stories.

So, if I understood that correctly, they were looking for someone to have on stand by to replace Richie on The Circle tour long before he actually went to rehab. It didn't just happen overnight.

Did he say that in this interview? I can't listen to it atm.

It definitely sounds from what he said he was already prepared....it wasn't an immediate thing.

Yeah that's what he said indeed.

phil x "flippin' out" 1989

A look at some of Phil's gear for the tour. Looks like a nice set up, it's amazing how he thinks that's "too much" as it looks really simple when comparing it to Richie's pedal boards. Also, he had to embrace the whammy bar sooner or later, cool to see the flipstick making an appearance....

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...psuqe6jyqy.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...pszsxbhykd.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2vsgtp3t.jpg