Where did you read that????

So basically nothing is going to change from the Seb before to the Seb now.

I didn't think that you were such a huge Richie fan that now its all over. Don't get me wrong, I know you hate Jon and everything Bon Jovi but I never got the impression that once Richie was out of the band, its all over for you. Not the shit CD's, the crappy setlists or pissy Jon.

I think his talking about the statement regarding South Africa and Europe.

That's not the "entire tour".

My apologies to you and Beaky if my previous comment came off as gloating. I was trying to convey that I knew exactly what Europeans are going through right now: being crushed at the news, feeling anger, wanting not to go to the concert, wanting sympathy, etc. I do sympathize because I've been in your shoes. I don't think you (or I) are getting what you (or us) deserve. We can be united in that opinion.

I decided to go to the show mostly because I would be out way too much money; I did enjoy it but still think I missed some of the magic with the absence of Richie. Given the history of Jovi shows in Europe which obviously are better than American shows, you have a right to feel a real loss.

Anyone else think part of Jon's motivation to continue pushing through with this tour is in hopes of grabbing a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination on their 30th anniversary?

To him it might be the entire tour, seeing that he is from Europe and those shows affect him. I shouldn't even be answering for the guy, for all I know, he might have heard something different.

In a previous post, I said that the shows in Australia and Japen might be in doubt. I don't think so anymore. Runaway Tours just put up a picture of a Koala bear. I take that as a sign that the next fanclub trip is in Australia.

I haven't posted here in ages and stuff, yada, yada. I received an email from BonJovi.com a few minutes ago saying they'll announce new Australian tour dates soon. Australian fans will probably have to buy tickets while in the dark.

Bring on the mass of people who will claim over and over again that they will sell their tickets, and still end up going to the store.

But yeah, this really blows. I was skeptical to the "Richie's out of the band" scenario, but now it seems much more feasible.

I feel glad that the likes of Kathleen, Terri, and Erik went to Europe LAST tour. :D

Thanks Kathleen. I wish some people would realize this.

I'm just really not that phased by this. I probably subconsciously saw it coming.

Don't mean to go into specifics, but wouldn't that make him the queen of swing?

Clearly, it's not enough time for their creativity levels to recharge though!!!

Well ok, 90 % of the tour is confirmed as not having him in it.

Or 27 out of 33 confirmed dates. And there is no confirmation he will be at the next North/South America leg.

For some perspective. First of all, no, I am not going to any gigs. But. As everyone is saying how Jon has gotten worse and worse performer over the years, so has Rich. With decent replacement the tour can still bring some rock to the house. But I doubt it. I still do think that Jon keeps the new guy in short leash and all they bring is "relevant" country-pop. So my opinion is that skipping the tour is win-win situation for any fan. Save the money and save yourself from disappointment.

Anyway, bottom line is that Bon Jovi is a BAND. Not just Jon and hired guns. Even if they manage to cook up decent European leg, it still won't be "our" Bon Jovi. The band people paid to see won't be performing.

Yup, it will be Non Jovi.

The Europe shows don't affect me directly, as I live in Australia.

I am European though.... I find it a bit weird that you know that.

In my last two or three posts, I've had different theories about what's happening. Some of them serious, some of them, maybe not.

But now, I'm just serious, after spending a couple hours thinking, as a human being.

This guy (Sambora) is a human being. He lost his father years ago, he ended their marriage and can't get this life together again. He even broke his arm in pieces a couple of tours ago and became addicted to painkillers, cancelled shows of his own solo tour due to <whatever>, went rehab, has a daughter in 'trouble years' (and his own ex wife went into rehab too in the past), got arrested by drinking driving, went AGAIN on rehab... endless list.

He's 50+, and he's nowhere.

Yet worse: is a rock star. A celebrity.

He hasn't got a normal Tour time with Bon Jovi since Bounce (I'm not kidding). Look:

Have A Nice Day
- 2006 broke his arm
- Fat, lack of energy, and, obviously, drunk on stage

Lost Highway
- 2007 went into rehab, missed their first show in BJs history
- 2008 arrested driving drunk

The Circle
- 2011 again, rehab, missed a complete Leg

What About Now
- 2013... missed the complete Tour so far

So, what's happening, REALLY:

This guy collapsed. Worse than drugs, worse than drinking, worse than painkillers: Mentally collapsed.

Is very anti-professional looking it from the 'fan' or 'concert attender' perspective. But that's it. With his 'crap life', every of us can be at the same situation.

Look at his last tweet: that's says very.

Maybe we just thank that he's alive, and not dead by commiting suicide. And stop asking for explanations, because he has private life.

That it their 'personal reason'.

Sorry for my english.

Jolo.

Sadly, I think you may be right. It's hard to imagine a celebrity of Richie's caliber having a "crap life" like we might, but everyone has their own demons. Maybe someday we will find out the real story. For now, I feel sorry for Richie rather than feel anger towards him.

Who knows. Maybe I'm just emotional after watching some old Jon and Richie Unplugged videos. In any event, good post. I appreciate your insight.

Well photos are up from a charity event that Jon did tonight and he doesn't look like a man under extreme stress, or a man that has had a serious falling out with one of his closest friends of last 30 years so.......... logic tells me that this "personal" issue with Richie is all about Richie and that maybe the only way to keep the band out of it is for him not to tour with them. Is it possible he got himself tied up in an outside venture that went bad and this outside venture is looking to recoup or get something from him and the only way he can keep the company Bon Jovi out of it is if he isn't working with them??

It would explain his silence on the matter, Jons inability to say anything as well other than "he's still in the band", and it would explain why the lenght of time Richie will be out is up for grabs.

Tyson Ritter and especially Nick Wheeler (The singer/bassist and guitar player respectively of AAR) are very big Jovi fans.

To all who are turning to vices in their emotional suffering....in solidarity, I have bought my first chocolate bar in months. Let me know what else I can eat to show my support. :smilecol:

Welcome to the club! Only one chocolate bar??!!

For my coping mechanism I bought really cheap beer. No really, like I got curious because I saw this lonely six pack just sitting there and the cans were really pretty with big waves and it said Swell IPA (made in Hawaii) So I went to buy it and it cost $2.50

Such a long story for such a meaningless tale, but then again it seems right for the thread :(....

http://www.selectism.com/news/wp-con...well-ipa-1.jpg

$2.50 for 6 cans of what looks like 6.2 % strength beer?

Would be ten times that price in Australia.

No but really I hope if Richie misses the rest of the tour Phil keeps the job for the duration of. He's been a real asset and the dude deserves to play in stadiums at least a few times. Plus, it's a trip watching him get around the whammy bar fills Richie does :p

I have no idea why it was so cheap, but after the first one it tastes really good :)

Nice - what a bargain!

I've been bouncing back and forth on when I wanted to post something substantial about all this, and Richie not being on the European Tour seems as good a time as any. A couple of caveats before I begin:
1. Obviously, I have no more knowledge about what's going on with Richie than anyone else here, and I could be off the mark completely.
2. IF it were to come out that Richie or either someone in his family is ill and that's what's causing his absence, than he's 100% done the right thing and I would take back anything I say below.

With those out of the way, I can't express how utterly turned off I am by both the Bon Jovi organization, and Richie himself for the way this has all gone down, and frankly any of the three major theories about what's happened make them look even worse.

1. Jon/Richie Fight: If Jon and Richie truly had a falling out that led to Richie walking away (be it over money or creative issues) then they both seem like petulant children, not only destroying the current tour, but dealing a significant blow to their legacy as well. While this is possible, and certainly seems to be the popular theory, I just don't see it as likely. Not because of some faith in the band, but rather because I don't think either man would be dumb enough to allow that. Jon has an obsession with the Bon Jovi brand, and Richie's absence hurts the brand. It angers fans , diminishes the live shows, and destroys the "30 year brotherhood" mythology that the organization has carefully orchestrated, and is affecting some pretty high profile gigs (Slane, IOW, Hyde Park, etc.).On the Richie side, leaving ANOTHER tour (after the debacle of a solo tour last year, and the 2011 rehab stint) damages him in the eyes of promoters and the public which would be a terrible place to try and start a solo-only career. For those reasons. I think both men (and the legal advisors who surely surround both men) would have given whatever concessions possible to at least finish out the tour with Richie, saving face for both.

2. Richie bolted due to creative issues: Frankly, I find this one even less likely than the Jon/Richie fight theory. For starters, Richie has seemed to be (contrary to the popular opinion here) just as concerned with the band's relevance and recognition as Jon in the last 10 years. Beyond that, pretty much anything solo he's done in that time period has been in a poppy direction, including releasing an album last year where (for better or worse) every track sounded like it could have fit on a 2002 and onwards Bon Jovi album. I also don't buy into the idea that after playing the record, doing a ton of promo, and a month and a half of shows that he suddenly decided he couldn't artistically do it anymore. From a business standpoint I can't see it happening for the same reasons expressed in number 1. *From a personal standpoint, this is probably the one that would bother me most, as I would lose all respect for Richie IF he pulled this. Leaving for creative reasons before or after the tour would have been fine, even commendable, however to leave in the middle with hundreds of jobs counting on you and thousands of tickets sold would be deplorable.

3. Substance Abuse Issues: Sadly, I think this is the most likely of any of the three scenarios. Either Richie felt himself slipping (or slipped) and told the band that he needed to straighten his shit out no matter how long it took, or the band sent him home and told he he couldn't come back until he got his shit together. He might not even have ever gone into full rehab. It fits into the idea that only Richie "knows" when he's coming back, and obviously has the most historical precedence of the three main theories, whereas Jon and Richie have surely fought before yet neither has missed shows over it, and Sambora has never expressed dissatisfaction with the band's creative output. If that were true, I'd feel bad for both parties. While it's easy to cast stones, I do believe addiction is a disease (uh oh, I'm taking us back 200 pages) and obviously one Richie has been coping with for a long time. As for Jon/the band/the organization, this would be the fourth tour in a row where Richie's issues have directly affected the band on tour and in public (Clear drunken performances on the HAND Tour, the Unplugged debacle, rehab trip, and DUI during the LH period, the missed leg in 2011, and this), and I can't blame them for having Phil X waiting in the wings in case it happened again. Nor can I blame them for continuing the tour, and an employee in pretty much any other field would have been fired by now, let alone temporarily replaced.

No matter which of those is true (or if it's something totally unrelated) the Bon Jovi organization has handled this completely ass-backwards. While I completely respect Richie's right to privacy (especially if it's substance related) they could have sent out more timely, much better worded statements than the jokes we got, not to mention the complete embarrassment that is Matt Bon Jovi's Twitter. The whole thing is just a sad mess.

That's a great beer.

I cracked open a beer myself while writing my above post, though that's more to due with my father being back in the hospital. (Just seems to be precautionary, but still doesn't make it easy.)

Hope all is well with your father crush.

Well right now Richie is looking like the bad guy in all of this. If he has quit he should just come out and say it, fans would understand that more than the shit we are being fed. If he rejoins the band and just didn't fancy touring this summer, then I will lose a lot of respect for him.

I'm gutted he won't be there, I just can't imagine that stage without him. However, everything's been paid for and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting away, so just gotta make the best of it. I really hope it doesn't mean a summer of autopilot JBJ though. It would be good if he could add a few special guests here and there , can't see it though.

I expect to see some serious rarities pop up this next leg, that's for sure. Anxious to see what they are.

Im reading some of these posts and Im shocked.

You call yourselves fans yet some want to boo JBJ as its clearly his fault, give up tickets, start slating everything the band does.

Granted I dont recognise half these usernames cause your clearly the sort that hate it when things are going well but the moment there is something wrong you log in and add to your 130 post since 2002 by slating the band and everything to do with them.

Have you stopped to think that maybe JBJ has been asked by Richie not to say anything about whats happend? Yes as fans that seems out of order as we have all bought tickets but maybe the guy is in such a bad place he just wants to be left alone.

Secondly if and i say "if" he has left then legally maybe everyone in the band and within the whole Bon Jovi family are legally not allowed to say anything while the "divorce" happens.

I for one cant wait to find out whats happening just so these so called fans on this board can all **** off again and go lurk back in the shadows.

Tom Hamilton has had to pull out of the Aerosmith tour due to ill health - I wonder if on the Aerosmith boards they are all suggesting that they boo Steve Tyler as its clearly his fault.

Some of you need to grow up.

Whilst absolutely gutted that Richie ain't gunna be there, I also think I'm a little relieved. At least I now know what to expect; a Jon & Friends show! So I will just embrace the night and go with the flow. Having been a fan for 25+ years, I ain't gunna just throw it all away.
Having said that I wish that I could just walk out of my job when I liked.....and be told that I'm still an integral member of the team.....hmmmm!

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oo

(na, good post)

See that´s the part I don´t get and maybe someone with more insight on how contracts work etc. can explain that to me.

So Jon is the boss. Richie, Dave & Tico are more or less employees and legaly not equal to Jon when it comes to the band.
What would be the legal situation were nobody is allowed to talk? Is it because there is a tour going on at the moment or because Richie co-wrote a lot of Jovi songs and they have to find a way to solve that financially?

Might sound a like a stupid question but since I have no idea how this things are done an answer would be appriciated.

Why not reschedule the whole tour for Richie? It's like, he's the magic. They may lose some money but it's worth the respect and brotherhood.

I am giving up my tickets, so I guess this is aimed at 'people like me' and frankly, you are such an amazing person and I wish I was more like you. I am such a bad fan and you are so dedicated and I am such a waster.

The fact that I wouldn't want to see a band that is no longer a band, a guy that can no longer sing and the main reason I wanted to go to the gig is no longer going to be there... on top of that, I actually chose to express my disappointment (and that's what it is, it's not b*tching, whining, moaning... disappointment comes when you care, when you're invested in something and when you can see it slowly crumbling before your eyes) that fact that I chose to express that, here, of all places, on a discussion thread about that very topic... well how f*cking dare I.

I am really pleased you're so clear-headed about this, I am happy for you. You tell people like me to 'grow up'... well, here's a plan... adults, by and large, tend to be accepting of other people's views and opinions, so in reality; why do you f*** off to the shadows and do some growing up yourself.

I just wanted to add, I get the feeling that everyone is desperately trying to write *the* definitive post... and in doing so, you get the kind of sh*t above where we're all attacking each other because there's no speculation left, we've covered it all. But do we really have to get into the whole 'you've only been around since 2002,' snobbery!? I've only been on here since 2005 because before I had a freelance job, I spent a lot less time in front of a computer. But I am your age and have been into this band for 25 years or more. You're emotional, fine. But don't start being a tw*t now, you've not done it in the past.

I find that attitude a lot harder to ignore than the people you're lambasting. I will take your advice though, I think I need to walk away from this for a little while. If this kind of attitude is actually appreciated around here, not sure it's good for my blood pressure.

In reading through the last 9 or so pages, I wonder what Dave and Tico would think if they knew how many people don't seem to care about them.

Sorry but he's still well enough to plug his solo album on twitter, I don't buy that one bit.

It would nice for Richie to put out some kind of statement, even if its just to say sorry to the fans he's badly let down over the past month, no matter what's gone on.

Any future BJ ticket I buy, even if Richie is part of the band at the time, I will be treating as JBJ and friends.