Having went to a show with Phil X (San Jose) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, however, it wasn't the same, it took TWO guitar players to cover for Richie, and the harmonics just weren't there/

who's richie??????? :confused::confused:

I disagree. Matt is an absolute idiot - in the literal sense of the word. Using him as their de facto PR guy is as sensible as appointing Adolf Hitler as Minister for Equality.

Absolute trainwreck. I had been contemplating getting Slane tickets, thank god I didn't. I have always loved this band and although I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of Jovi like most on here do, I have always followed them and adored them.

Sambora is someone this band truly can't be without but unfortunately the band will go on without him (if Richie does end up leaving/ or gets fired).

Jon knows that he is the main selling point and will keep the band alive till he loses interest (I'm sure thats gonna be sooner rather than later).

That's a good attitude!
I'm obviously disappointed that Richie will not be in Europe as I have booked already two shows and was thinking about a third one. However, I'm sure it will still be a blast!
After all, i know all the songs and the guys know how to play 'em well! ;-)

You'd take sex change to Rachel Sambora though? :p

Absolutely gutted. But I think it is an over reaction from some. I'm pretty sure you can go and still have a good time. I know I will be. It won't be the same, but it it will still be Jon, Dave, Tico playing the hits that I'll sing along to and will make up a good day out.

At the end of the day we still have........

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps0edb0a2b.png

I'm disappointed that Richie won't be at the UK shows but it really ain't the end of the world. Obviously I'm annoyed that we haven't had a proper explanation but the plus side will be that Jon probably knows that it will create backlash towards the band so I'm hoping that he'll put on extra special shows in Europe because I really think if any of them are "standard" then that'll be it!

Ahhh greatest hits shows not promoting the new album anymore.... ahhh welll.

Yeah I agree with this guy. he has nothing to gain by lying either and he is a twat on Twitter, so just ignoring the questions would be no problem to him.

yes but looking at the photo only because they got caught as they were trying to leave

HAHA they're be kept captive by Jon's minions.

Well, this news is depressing, though I can't say I'm surprised. I hope Matt's Tweet proves true in the long run, and that Richie will be back someday.

Love it!!!!!

Wanted is just not the same without Richie. To me, Richie is an integral part of that song. Sigh.

This is going to be the worst Bon Jovi tour ever.

My "perspective" is that with tickets, hotels and travel, we've spent £1000 on a busted flush. Now, £1000 is a LOT of money to me. We could have had a nice holiday for that kind of money, but decided to do a handful of gigs instead. You know, hit the road and follow the band around, make something of it.

Now it works like this. I've loved Bon Jovi since I was a kid, but it was all about Richie for me. I 'converted' the missus a couple of years ago, but she's more of a Jon fan. Even she though, gets where the magic comes from. The Jon & Richie chemistry.

So she's quite disappointed. I'm devastated. We'll still go to the gigs (so we don't lose any money as much as anything!) but right now I honestly cannot see how I'm going to enjoy them- Richie is THE reason I really got this band. Maybe I'll have a good time. Maybe Phil X or whoever is in place might win me over. I can't help feeling though that my summer/holiday plans are potentially ruined. I work hard in a stressful job, so my holidays are important to me. I look forward to getting away from it and really enjoying myself. I'm now in a situation where I'm struggling to look forward to it. Maybe next year eh?

Now that's just my story. There are thousands more folk with their own. Thousands of people now facing up to a major disappointment. Maybe to you, it's "some gig", but to a lot of folk that gig was a real highlight for them. See, that's the beauty of music. It means something to people. And often the people behind the music mean something to people. It can be a really important thing in people's lives. Take that away from them, and it causes a lot of hurt.

Now, if It is something bad, no one will blame Richie for pulling out. Most of us will wish him well, and try to be supportive. We care. We have invested a lot in him. Emotionally invested, which leads lots of us to financially invest in him too. I can't argue that money is as important as his health, but that money was a big outlay for me, and I can't help feel aggrieved that I'm not getting what I paid for. Which adds to the fact I'm upset that I won't be seeing MY Bon Jovi. Like a lot of people won't see THEIR Bon Jovi. So when thousands of people are in this same position, I think they have a "right" for information. We don't need the gory details, but we need more than "it's a secret so we're no telling you." He may have a "right" to privacy, but in his position he needs to show his fans a little respect and give them a little clarity. It's the "right" thing to do...

It's a real shame this happened in their 30th anniversary year. I am currently drowning my sorrows in a big vat of ice cream. If I have to buy fat clothes I will send the bill to Richie Sambora. :(

A little public relations savvy from the start of this could have gone a long way. There is a way to reassure fans and gain sympathy without telling all. It's my belief that people are generally understanding.

Yeah I've hit the hookers and cocaine hard since the news broke. Can you send me Richie's address so I can send him the bill?

This will take quite a bit of getting over too....

When Richie cancelled his NY concert at Best Buy I was devastated. Don't want to sound over dramatic but I had some personal stuff going on and was looking so forward to seeing him. When he cancelled, I couldn't listen to his cd for quite a while and I literally felt like I was in mourning.

Also got screwed at Nassau Colisseum, Richie was missing and it definitely wasn't the same. I am going to have a positive attitude and hope he comes back for Jersey and if not, I will have a blast no matter what. I'm done with this band screwing with my emotions.

Wasn't Richie in Hawaii right before the tour started again with Ava? What if Ava told Richie that she wanted him to be with her; she missed him etc etc and Richie seeing what happened to Jon's daughter maybe felt screw it all, I'm staying with my daughter, she's at an impressionable age and needs me. Just another theory, not saying it's right but if he's not sick, not fighting with Jon and it's not about money then maybe it's about being there for his daughter.

Post of the year. Exactly my feelings too.

That was my thought too. Who would have guess this is how we would be celebrating Bon Jovi's 30th Anniversary!! It's all ****ed up.

They are still using the personal reasons excuse? what kind of personal reason is there? his not sick, it's not ego? we've covered a pet dying. WTF is it? In a normal situation, personal reason for anyone missing work is sickness or family issues. From everything that we have seen from Ava, family seems OK. Is it his Mum? but then again, I don't think so. I'm sure his loves his Mum but he would give her the best possible medical care, check up on her constantly via phone and still come and do the shows. I don't think he would cancel the shows, to sit by is Mother's side. His father was sick and he still toured.

It will be so interesting to see how the reaction and the shows are in Europe. I don't think there is going to be a mass exodus of people not turning up. The reaction might be shows were great but not the same without Richie.

It's going to be sad to see Jon do the one man guitar salute at the end of Wanted.

Watched this on youtube and its quite sad to see Jon there by himself..

Solid Sambora's post is exactly what I think. Jon and Richie should read it.

Hahaha! Well....yes. Because Rachael Sambora would still be the king of swing, the king of cool and still be....Richie.

I have to agree. I missed Richie for my two shows this tour, but still had an amazing concert experience. It's obviously not the same, but Jon and the guys put on a heck of a show.

I just watched the entire Vegas show on You Tube and Phil is doing fine. Having watched that, I realised if Phil is playing I am going to miss Richie's vocals more than I will miss his guitar.

The man is a better singer than the CEO.

This moment, with Richie's backing vocals, is the killer tbh. Damn.

Well since Dave & Tico said in that interview that Richie might be back "anytime soon" (or something like that) It sounded to me more of a "it's up to Richie" . So I'm finally rejecting the disease theory.

By the way, I'm aware that lots of people here bought tickets for the shows but, I can't stand Jon lately so I'm supporting Richie if he really decides to leave the band. Am I really the only one?

It's a good excuse to indulge in a few vices. Gotta look on the bright side, lol.

Not that it matters, but this will piss you all off even more....

http://youtu.be/WHIHtzB4uRM

People seem to be losing sight of a few things here:

1. Richie has been coasting live for years now. The odd shine of brilliance stands out only because it's a departure from lacklustre and mediocre performances. Say what you will about Jon's voice, that goes with age, guitar skills are fairly constant throughout life (just ask Les Paul) providing you care enough to keep practicing and developing which Richie has admitted he'd stopped doing

2. Like it or not, the band IS Jon hence why the show goes on when Richie was in rehab / Dave was injured and so on. Most people I know who are passing Bon Jovi fans know Richie more for what he lands himself in the papers for, not what he does with the band. It's the same with Dave, Tico and, oh yeah who was the guy that replaced another founding member and improved the band live big time?

3. It might suck as die hard fans to lose Richie but big bands go through member changes all of the time. I wasn't lucky enough to see a fully fit and healthy Clarence so never saw him at his best but his nephew has done an amazing job of filling in and I'm just as excited about seeing him again as I was about Clarence. Take your pick from most huge worldwide acts (the only one I can think of that hasn't had a member change would be U2)

4. It's not like they've drafted in an amateur or made Bobby step up the big leagues. Phil X is a monster player and highly regarded throughout the music world as a guitarist in his own right. I'm genuinely happy to see him do his thing compared to Richie's last few efforts when I've seen him.

5. Speaking of Phil. He's a pro musician. He will be woodshedding like a mad man just now and they'll be running songs in sound checks and so on. Hell they'll probably be rehearsing more now than what they do with Richie. My point being - don't discount the fact that we might well see some rarities (if Richie has bailed, wouldn't Jon want to give him a F You, watch this sh*t?) and Phil X will bring a lot more energy and vitality than Richie has been able to do over the past number of years.

Again, I got really cheap hospitality tickets so I've got nowhere near as much invested into these shows as a lot of people and I can see it being the end (or at least some form of departure) for the band but there's not a whole lot that can be done about it and getting emotional or moping isn't going to help.

Hahaha! That's funny!!!!!!:D

I agree, they most definitely should.

Even though I've had a bad feeling about this all along, I was devastated when I saw the news. I don't think I'll be listening to any Bon Jovi music these days, because it hurts too damn much.

I hate the way they are handling this. I've said it before, I get wanting to keep things private, but this affects our lives too and we deserve more info. So far the theory of him leaving the band makes most sense, but I can't believe he'd leave so many fans hanging. Time will tell. No matter what, I honestly hope Richie's OK.

Their PR... if it can be called that... is just terrible. Terrible. The fans deserve more than last minute announcements and vague info. Matt shouldn't say anything at all. His tweets cause more drama. He knows nothing, then he knows something, blah blah. Geez.
As sad as I am, I'm really pissed off as well and I'd sell my overpriced Munich tickets if I could.

think we should all go and boo Jon at Slane, hold up our illegal banners and then boo him even more when he starts singing shit like I love this town (Slane isnt one) and Work for the working man in a country severely hit by the recession. In fact, if only the whole crowd would walk out on him, then i would keep my tickets to see that!

as that wont happen, please PM me with any info anyone hears on refunds for Slane and also New jersey - im booked in the 25th concert and fly home on the 26th thinking that i was going to see my no longer favourite band play at their home ground.....first Richie and then the night before moving......next will be moving that 25th show too. No matter who's fault it is, there is no consideration for the fans so the band can go and quite frankly f**k themselves.

just asking, do you think there's any chance for Richie to come back in the middle of european leg?

doubt it although the news is going to kill the three massive festival gigs at Slane, isle of Wight and Hyde pARK!

Never thought about that - maybe not finishing the tour and cancelling Oz and Japan! Good point! Yikes!!! :shock: