No, that was interesting. Jon is always saying that the singing is what he does not who he is. So it was interesting that his kids were asking him who he was. I think that is a great conversation that parents should have with their kids. I knew my father as a parent who worked to support his family but not so much as a person when I was growing up.

Just speaking the truth dude.

And your last sentence is EXACTLY my point. The fact that they have NO idea is really bad.

I wasn't there so I am not 100% sure but I think he touched on it at the fanclub event to the vineyard. He said it was really personal and a letter to his kids.

I think they're just trying to buy time. *IF* someone is quitting, the confirmation will come after the tour.

I was not at the napa trip so I don't know - I know he introduced that song there but if I have seen the video about the song done there I am not sure I got the speech about it before ...I heard he mentioned his daughter there

Wonderful. Makes me miss Richie even more. Sigh.

So you think Richie will come back and quit after the tour or they are going to dance around this subject and say he'll be back....

I think once this leg ends and the next leg starts and his still not back, then we know his not coming back. Then things will change. I think now the fans have the attitude wait and see, still early days but once they are back on the next leg, none of this crap Richie will be back, its personal will work. The ones who want the refunds will go for them and its just going to be so noticeable later.

It has been noted that Richie's wardrobe trunk is still on the tour and travelling with the band. I take that as a good sign.

You know the real asshole here is Richie for not telling everyone his personal business. It's his fault Eric with a K is calling Jon the devil. And since I KNOW Richie is reading this board, I know he's seen Eric with a K's posts and he's doing nothing to stop it.

STOP THE INSANITY, RICHIE! STOP IT NOW!

I love this thread, so entertaining!:)

I think there's a possibility that he isn't coming back. Even if BJ camp knows he ain't coming back, they might be keeping it in the dark for a reason. If they keep the public in the dark, there for sure will be less refunds compared to situation where they'd actually announce departure of Rich. I think the case is either he does come back in the middle of the tour or they'll indeed dance around the matter for the rest of the tour. Joining the tour, I think, would mean there's no breakup coming. Fun, all this speculating, ain't it?

Like said, without Rich there isn't a band called Bon Jovi. Just Jon & "friends."

I agree in principle with the "Jon &Friends" sentiment, but I think it shortchanges David, Tico and Hugh.

Also, we could just wait for this thread to become sentient and have IT replace Richie...

If this thread were to become sentient and replace Richie, it would selfdestruct because of the amount of expectation we have of Richie and the band.

I imagine it fighting with Jon to play an extended solo in every song and doing a solo song each show.

It would give HIM the stink eye and also forcibly remove his acoustic guitar from him. Its stage dialogue would consist entirely of insults from JoviTalk.

JON: My right hand, the consig---

SENTIENT THREAD RICHIE: MATT'S AN ASSHOLE. EUROPE IS FULL OF BARBARIANS. WANKER!

Silence

JON: Uh...if I was to say "It's Alright...."

LOL YEAH

SENTIENT THREAD RICHIE: I was on rehab while my mother was dying while my dog was being killed and I was being abducted by aliens. It was also for money.

That's the new intro to "Ill Be There For You."

Who needs tv when we have this thread? LMAO!

what on earth are you talking about?!?! *everybody* knows Richie Sambongo! <3

http://i46.tinypic.com/f2kfhi.png

they keep the public in the dark for a reason but that also leaves the door opened for all kinds of speculation. including speculation about Richie having left the band permanetly, which could potentially translate into less tickets being sold. i've read that Richie has left the entire tour and won't be coming to Lisbon on two different occasions and on two different papers and none of them are tabloids (they're probably quoting the New York Post's piece). if Richie is in fact nowhere near leaving the band, like i believe he isn't, this whole silence becomes counterproductive and can be doing more harm than good.

The bongo picture.. Omg. Hahahaha

if he's not back for the european leg (or if he quit permanently) I'm not going to the Lisbon show. simple as that.

If he's not back for the show in Vienna i might not go either. I have a few friends who have tickets to that show and Munich. They aren't 100% sure either.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Might as well - every other bit of gossip/bullshit has been posted.

Take a bow Roxannah, quality. :-) :-) :-)

Sentient thread Richie too...haha brilliant. Brightened up my morning. This is the thread that just keeps on giving. :-)

Love that pic! ^^

I want a Richie Sambongo t-shirt... we could do a range of them.

On the front it could say... MESSED

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but Matt's response to the colossal cock-up of the article being placed on bj.com was to blame the way people read it...

if read wrong maybe. The fact that the words were in (....) would show it was interviewers words not in quotes.

Perhaps as a social media marketing whizz, Mr Bongiovi should actually read posts put up on the website he is responsible for and judge how they might be perceived by an ill-informed public.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8443/sambo.gif


Twitter
Matt: Yeah, it's true! Richie has left yes but all on a good note. He is planning to compose on his own. Damn, who needs oxygen when you have swag?

http://drycounty.com/jovitalk/showthread.php?t=55338, page 87 for more information.

March, 2013:

Musician's Friend: What are some of the things you do to prepare for a tour?
RS: Absolutely. Obviously, you’ve gotta be fit. As you get older, if you’re going to travel the world the way we do it’s essential that you get in some kind of shape to deal with the wear and tear. This particular tour, I didn’t have to get in shape. No Slim Fast shakes baby! Because I just finished my solo tour right before. So my chops are as good as they ever were. That’s for sure. [laughs].

Aldo Nova about the good old times:

While we were in the room writing, Jon had been trying to lose weight and was drinking these Slim Fast shakes.So he was farting constantly, and so much that when his wife Dorothea entered the room to give us drinks, almost fell on her face, and offered to make me a Slim Fast shake so that i could rival her husband in Flatulence.

I've been holding off buying London tickets due to cash flow and I wont be buying them closer to the time if Richie isn't there.

I get why they are being vague about the situation, I don't think they have yet sold out the big venues in Europe yet and if its confirmed Richie isn't playing I don't see any of them selling out. Having said that more could be done to control the gossip and channel it in the right direction.

The whole 'we don't wash our dirty laundry in public, we're a brotherhood,' and 'it's down to Richie to tell you what is going on' is complete and utter bollocks.

Jon Bon Jovi runs this band, he is the custodian of the brand and tickets have been sold to see THE BAND. Someone has already commented, correctly, that this reaction from fans is something they did not see coming. Whether that's because Jon really does think that the majority of fans are there to see him or simply that they would just take a half-arsed explanation in their stride and not require any more... it was hugely short sighted.

A huge JON fan called me last night, the first call I've had from anyone about this. Going back a couple of years, JON could do no wrong. Every album HE released, she loved. Last night, after she'd admonished me for not telling her about Richie's absence in the first place, she said this...

"It's bad enough he releases a turd of an album, now we're going to get a turd of a live show as well."

There is no enjoyment in this for me but I think 2013 is going to be a year Jon will want to forget.

It's funny to notice that Richie isn't credited on the most praised songs on the album (I'm with you and That's what the water made me). Just sayin'
Anyway I'm getting bored with the Missing Richie shit. Somebody's got to communicate now. As far as I'm concenrned, both Richie and Jon can go **** themeselves!

I'm not saying it's going to turn out this way but my belief was that it was always going to come crashing down eventually. They've been riding the wave of mediocrity for so long it was only going to take something like this to derail the whole thing.

I genuinely feel the band should have called it quits years ago but instead they're limping to a finish-line that Jon obviously felt was farther away than it may actually be. Unless this whole Richie fiasco turns out to have been blown out of all proportion and he's actually just stubbed his toe or lost his bongos, Jon faces a huge decision as to whether to push on and try to regain some credibility here or to concede that there is no band or brand without everyone pulling in the same direction.

It's sad to think how far the band has fallen when you look back on their career.

Interesting to hear that Bob Rock said before KTF, they were a gang whereas once Jon fired Doc McGee and oversaw the band's management, it became Jon and the band. Was that the point that it all started to go wrong?

Jon's always believed and spun it that him taking over the management of the band saved it but is it possible that it was actually planting the seeds of the band's decline? Probably a discussion for another thread but the decline has been pretty big over the last number of years.

You raise very interesting questions! Definately worth discussing.

yes, a great topic to be discussed :) I never thought of it being the beginning of the end. It's a bit like having your parent as your manager. Never works, conflict of interest.

Me neither. Because Keep the Faith and These Days (and Always & Saturday Night) followed, I always assumed that Jon was right in his interpretation because all their peers disappeared when Bon Jovi survived.

But then they did so internationally rather than in the US in the 90s and it could be argued that Doc laid the foundations for that international success in the 80s. Not saying I subscribe to that because the quality of the music and new direction obviously helped but there is a valid argument there.

All that being said, you still have to give Jon credit whatever you view. They've been immensely successful in the 20 years since and that's quite an achievement regardless of your opinion of the quality of their music.

I really don’t see it this way at all.

They still put on great shows, and I enjoy the music they even release today, as still do a lot of people, so why should they call it a day unless they as a band aren’t enjoying it anymore?

Of course they are not at their creative or performance peak anymore, which isn’t surprising. No band is after a 30 year career. But neither are they playing country fairs, like many of their 80’s counterparts and I think the band would call it a day before it ever got to that sort of level.

This Richie thing – whatever it is – may not even ever come to light. I’ve no doubt he’ll be back playing with the band before long, but after this tour I can’t see another for awhile, but I don’t think you’ll see Bon Jovi doing an REM and announcing their retirement.

You are still hugely dedicated to the band, though and I am not knocking that one bit but your number is dwindling with every album and every tour that sees set lists diluted with newer, inferior songs.

The 'inferior' part might be my opinion but it's tough to argue against the fact that Jon looks in the mirror at his band and sees one thing, while the rest of the world sees something else.

I will give you one example... The headline act, Sunday night at Isle of Wight is not reserved for a contemporary, relevant rock band. They weren't booked for that slot because of the great HAND album...

Just to add - as I mentioned months ago, if Jon doesn't up his game and start being a frontman again, the days of him winning over crowds who aren't there to see him will be gone as well. I mentioned in another thread about how friends who weren't Jovi fans became converts in the 90s because of the energy of this band live. Age is NOT a barrier to this; proven by how Jon seems to have upped his game since Richie's no-show...

I couldn't disagree more. When you put out 4 albums in a row so successful, both creatively and commercially, as SWW, NJ, KTF and TD, how can you expect to get better than that? The band declined in the early 2000s because it was meant to be. Today Jon might sit and decide to write another Dry County, I'm convinced he couldn't. So I take what this band has to offer today and if I enjoy it, that's fine.

I agree with this.
I will say this though...........
The band imo didnt need to release WAN and tour so soon after The Circle tour came to an end.
They should have vanished for some years and then come back hungry. I think the album and tour so soon is all to do with JBJ and not seeing BJ in the list of highest grocing touring acts for last 18 months - not due to low numbers but due to them not touring.
He wants them back on that list and knows they will top it at the end of 2013/14.
Maybe this tour is too much for RS so soon after Circle tour ended, his own solo album and tour plus now this huge tour?
As I said. They should have come back in say late 2015 early 2016.
They have the fanbase to do so and its not as if people would forget who they were.

yeah agree.

The band peaked with those 4 albums - no way on earth they can keep that standard going. No one could. Maybe the Beatles but no one else.