This is the only believable source...

http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatal...etchup_1kg.jpg

Anyone wondering "why all the fuss?" should be directed to that post^

Exactly. If Matt can come out on Twitter and say Richie will definitely come back, why can't the band put that in an official statement? Most people will be content with a little more clarity from an official source.

Have we really stooped so low that people are actually suggesting that we go to a concert and boo? I have never heard anything so ridiculous. What would that achieve? Sod all! Apart from annoy other fans that are not as sad as we are and troll these forums.

II know if someone stands next to me and my wife and boos and spoils the concerts for us, they will be told to grow up.

If your not happy don't go! But don't be so sad and childish to spoil it for others..... Pathetic!

Thanks.

Its hard to tell if that was directed at Richie or not but i think it was. I've seen him get worse for screwing up anyway.

Regardless of what is going on now, i have often wondered how Richie has put up with some of the looks and the digs over the years.

Anyone link me to the David Bryan, Old Time R&R debacle please?

I've read at least 4 times in the last 10 pages how Jon said he hasn't talked to Richie two weeks after he didn't show up in Calgary and the announcement about him being gone for the remaining leg of the tour was made. That's not correct. That interview was PUBLISHED on April 20th, but the article clearly stated that it actually took place 2 days after shit hit the fan (April 4th). That very same day an interview with David and Tico was published, where David said Richie could be back "any day" (or something along those lines) and Tico said he had no idea whether he would be back for Europe. No info was given about the date that interview took place, but I'm pretty positive it was after the one with Jon.

Okay, say it was two days after... Jon is a bit of a fibber but sometimes his responses reflect his emotions. If Richie is really sick and Jon knows this, then my experience of watching, listening and reading interviews would have Jon respond with 'We talk all the time,' but instead, the first positive comment we've had out of the Jovi camp is Matt's 'support with love' which really, isn't clear if he means the band or Richie.

The time of Jon's comment isn't really relevant, the fact that he didn't feel the need to say 'of course we are in constant contact and he has our support' but said 'I haven't spoken to him,' this guy isn't wet behind the ears, he knows what that will do.

Personally I think it's funny but maybe David didn't

LMAO OH wow, I have never seen that, hell I have never heard Jon swear before either.

He either wanted to send out a message or get the interviewer off himself or he was simply saying the truth. We know the infamous phone call at 3.30pm that day came from someone other than Richie. And it's very possible that between shows and what not, they haven't spoken in two days. It could mean they're not on good terms, but it could also mean nothing at all other than they simply hadn't talked to each other (yet).

The time is relevant in the sense that (not here) I've seen people coming up with the whole "Tico and David said it's healthy for them to keep in contact with Richie, while Jon said he hasn't even talked to him" thing that only adds confusion to this already complicated mess.

Ok if that's true thats at least some kind of relief for Stockholm.... I'd definitely rather have Phil X play lead than Bobby...
Don't know what else to say at this point.... :(

LOL yeah may very well be.... cause those vocals were gorgeous. wow

Playing Devil's advocate (though i mostly agree with you) for a second: If Jon says "we're in constant contact" it then makes it sound like he should have a firm idea when Richie would be back, and that he was potentially rushing him back. Saying he hadn't spoken to him in 2 days outs the ball firmly in Richie's court.

You may have forgotten or just not know, some persons/peoples, who may or not have been Supersonic, once staged a protest against ''Who says you cant go home'' by turning their backs to the stage when it was played.
So yes, people can be ridiculous.
I also remember the sit down protest in the fan pit during u2's elevation tour by a large contingent of that band's version of our ''Backstage'' fanclub.
Of course, neither had anywhere near their desired effect and just made the ''protesters'' look like n00bs.

Andi

I've never heard that story, what were they protesting?

It's a whole saga really, basically centred around early entry to shows/who got front row etc.
The same diehard/nut job backstager types were getting front rows everynight which the band noticed. Plus for the DVD showing apparently other ''good looking'' people were hand picked to go in front, and these diehard/nutjob backstagers weren't happy.

But like I said, it's a whole mini saga. If our own epic richie thread is not enough bed time reading for you and you want some fun, read http://www.u2interference.com/forums...vd-206253.html. Read the long report by ''Dave'' there on the first page for a ridiculous whinney over the top synopsis of the whole thing. It's written like something our very own Kuba80BJ would pen..


Andi

Lol^^ Great pics!

Thank you :)

Jon comes across like a complete twat, like his vocals are always perfect!

LOL! We all have sources!! Apparently, we all know someone connected with the band but at the end of the day, we all know shit!

No he doesn't. Its banter, thats all.

For what it's worth....

Someone must have made a comment on Lorenza Ponce facebook page. I never saw the comment but this was her response.

@Marian Strumfa Blah, blah, blah. No one is quitting Bon Jovi. I like having you on my facebook pages, as you seem like a nice person, but please don't put this stuff in comments on my wall. You have no idea what you're talking about and comments like this are hurtful and untrue.

Yeah, that's how I took it and it was improv all the way. Poor David - must have been rusty on his R & R riffs LOL

A tongue-in-cheek protest? Or genuine?

"It's NOT alright..."

Absolutely right.

I've heard so much about that clip and that's the first time I've seen it....there is no way that is anything other than banter. Jon is just ripping the piss and you can see Richie is enjoying it too. Jeez talk about reading something that just isn't there.

That's a no-brainer, really. They're all laughing and having a good time, how could anyone see something else here is beyond me.

Isn't that what this board does most of the time?

Looking Richie enjoyin it like that, I don´t see a man who wants to leave the band. And watchin him so into the show on Clevland stream, I don´t see that man either.

At some point I thought he really left the band. Now I know he will left behind his personal issues and ´ll be back on the road.

Aussie dates: http://www.daintygroup.com/

Pretty much Kathleen.

On the Richie subject...

The other thing I don't get with this - and maybe some can answer - I've seen lots of posts and people saying "they were only going to see Richie" - so was it Richie that got you into the band? You fell in love with the music on Stranger, Undiscovered Soul, and Aftermath like I did with Blaze Of Glory and found the band that way?

If so, I can understand that attitude - but if not - if it was the joint collaboration of Jon and Richie on Wanted, Blood On Blood, I'll Be There For You - then why wouldn't you still want to go and hear the songs that they crafted together? Yes, his voice will be missing, but there's enough of Richie's fingerprints on those sorts of songs that if you truly love the things he's created, they'll last long beyond Jon and Richie and Bon Jovi, and likely most of us. If a band member eventually dies or does retire due to health, I would still love to hear the others play those songs, keeping the music I've loved all my life alive.

Furthermore, if this still is Richie's band, not going now is only going to make the future for him and the band that much tougher, if it really is just these personal demons he's exorcising whatever they are and has every intention of being back with them in the future.

The other thing I'm reading is, "I don't want to go to a JBJ and friends show" - well, what about Dave and Tico? The band is as much them as it is Richie and Jon, so it's far from JBJ and Friends, never mind Hugh also being there whose as instrumental to Jovi as the official members are.

I'm just trying in all honesty to understand that point of view.

I signed up to this board just to quote this message.

I've read a lot of posts on this thread, and this is the only one i really appreciated. I'm glad and proud that real fans like you are out there, somewhere. No one likes this situation, people spend a lot of money and energy to see the guys, i understand. But at this point, we can only support Richie and the BAND. If you got a ticket, you should go to the show.

I'm sure Richie will come back at some point

I definitely agree to a point.

I say so partly because I'm a huge Queen fan, I didn't ever get to see Freddie live, but saw Dr May and RT with Adam Lambert (two shows) in London last year. It was the most fantastic thing ever, two of the best nights of my life. It's slightly different with Jovi for me though. I've never experienced a Jovi without Richie, and would they not have that trademark sound that he produces (vocals AND guitar), it would make me not go on an expensive trip to see the band in another country.
However if the band is in my country I would (and I will be in 3 weeks time) still go. The show will probably be a good rock show, I mean 3 of the original members + Hughey are still there, and great songs are still great songs etc BUT to me, Richie is the soul and the groove of this band, and I have experienced him live before... Similar with all favourite bands- sometimes theres sides to them that you simply couldn't imagine them not having. As I said I'm going to the Stockholm show but won't spend money going elsewhere when Richie isn't there and also because this somehow douchey behaviour towards us fans leaves me feeling slightly pissed off.

Who on Earth are you to tell people what they should and should not be doing with their hard earned money?

One of the best shows I have seen was a JBJ and Friends fanclub show. We got more rarities than the band ever played (at least for that one night). It was the roots of rock show in 2009. I finally got to hear Bang a Drum live :)

So I don't have the hatred for the "& Friends" that many people have. Not to mention (as you say) there is always David and Tico. Believe me, you will notice it if either one of them is gone.

What makes a "real fan?"

The setlist of that show just about killed me. Could miss Bang A Drum, but Never Say Die is one of my personal anthems. I'd pay a lot of money to hear the full Blaze Of Glory album live. Will never happen but I could probably die completely fulfilled.

Speaking of, no Blaze on this tour at all yet, wtf?

I love the bootleg of that show, is unbelievable! I think I could die with a setlist like that. The version of Every Word Was A Piece Of My Heart is something out of this world. Also, Never Say Die? Don't Leave Me Tonight? I Get A Rush?! I need a JBJ Solo Tour with him doing those songs.

Aloha !

Actually, it was Richie's guitarwork on Keep The Faith and Always that made me a fan and want to look for more music out there. I discovered the band because of Destination Anywhere, but became a fan because of Richie. Yes, I loved Jon's vocal delivery as well, but those are pretty much gone nowadays with the odd exception here and there. And now that I'm thinking back, yeah, once I found Stranger In This Town on a local fair and started digging into those songs I realized there was a lot more to Bon Jovi than just the songs.

While you're saying Richie's fingerprints are all over the song, I really disagree. Richie has mastered songs like I'll Be There For You, Keep The Faith and pretty much every guitar orientated song Bon Jovi has released, and without him, the songs are lacking something. I find Phil X a good guitar player, but not for a band who's got as many signature solo's like Bon Jovi has. You can't play Sweet Child O' Mine with an improvised solo, just like you can't play Keep The Faith with an improvised solo. I don't expect to hear a note for note rendition of the studio version, but I do expect to hear Bon Jovi with their signature sound. 1 member's already gone, the other's often barely capable of singing certain songs live, and now there's another member of the band down. Sorry, but that's a little too much for me.

So for me. the issue is that with every song that has a guitar solo in it I'll be thinking "nope, not as good as Richie" or something to that extent. I realize that's approaching things from a guitar players' point of view and I'm quite sure that plenty of fans don't really hear the difference, but down the line, I do, and why I don't care for solo shows of Jon playing songs with friends or whatever he surrounds himself with. Because usually whenever he plays Bon Jovi songs or songs of his own career with a bunch of different musicians they're much worse than what's on the records, no matter what rare song he'll pull out of the bag. If it's second rate; I don't want it.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I believe in *magic* which means that I believe that you are ~ spot on.

At the show I went to, back in March, they all seemed happy. To be honest, I was a bit surprised at how well they played and how happy they ALL seemed with each other.

I finally got my own *final bow* pic, it's amazing, because they are all smiling, genuine smiles. I was third row, aisle.

It was one of their best shows, imo.

So, wtf happened??

I've also seen shows sans Richie, it is not the same at all.

Phil X does a great job. And, Jon and David and Tico work their bums off trying to make that *magic* but it's never going to be there again without Richie.

I would not turn down free tix to see a sans Richie show, but otherwise, at this point, I would not bother going.

Also, Richie needs to get his act together. Make a public statement and start acting like a professional.

I don't think there is anything wrong with his health, etc. It's something else.

I'm a fan of the BAND. Richie is supposed to be part of that band. He's let too many people down, at this point, that I do not have a clue how he is ever going to redeem himself. He needs to be called out for all of this.

Not sucked up too and coddled.

jmo

I love INXS but am the same - never got to see them with Michael Hutchence but saw them three or four times with JD Fortune fronting and every show was amazing.

I DO understand - Richie is as big a part of the Bon Jovi sound as Jon, Dave, Tico and Hugh - but one day (maybe it's already here) Richie may not be able to play with the band at all anymore - I'd still want to hear those songs and would go to see them played, because it's the music I love, not some idolization of any individual band member. If any of them are my heroes, then it's all of them.

Would I travel to other countries and spend as much as I do now - maybe not. I was half-considering booking Manchester as it falls on my birthday but it was hard to justify the expense of the gig before, even more so now. But for the tickets I've already got, of course I'm going. The money's spent, and I'm still pretty sure it's been spent well.