New Richie Sideshow announced in Melbourne!
 

Just saw on Facebook that Richie and band will be doing a small charity gig at The Espy (The Gerswin Room) in St Kilda, Victoria in Thursday night.

https://m.facebook.com/luke.ebbin/po...fid=9&_rdr#_=_

All proceeds will go to The Starlight Foundation.

And it's only $50 entry.

If I still lived in Melbourne, I would have been there. Great place for a gig... have a few beers over looking the pier prior.

Being a charity show, it may be a shorter set than Sydney tonight though.

A bit crazy that it was announced two days before it was due to happen - I know of people that bought tickets, flights and accommodation for Sydney since there was no Melbourne show. It's almost like Prince announcing a secret gig.

Any news on the set?

Richie Sambora & Corey Glover - Purple Rain (Melbourne 27 Feb 2014)

Wanted Dead Or Alive (Melbourne 27 Feb 2014)

http://oi62.tinypic.com/14t0qow.jpg
Richie with Corey Glover of Living Colour

You got to be kiddin' me right?!? That was surreal. What did this man do for so long with Bon Jovi?!?!?!??!??!??!?! Such a waste of talent....just makes me grumpy!

WHAT THE FRICK.

Richie can stay solo all he likes. What the heck has happened. Wow, I had shivers racing down my spine. I haven't experienced that with Bon Jovi or Richie live material in a few years.

He´s needed the band as well mate, no doubt about that. Jon was kicking Richie´s ass in the late 1990s, it could have been Jon saying I am wasted with the band. I agree with you over the last two years yeah, but Richie and Jon are made for each other for better or for worse. That is not a romantic ideal either, it means when one is good the other is too, and when one is shit... well you get it.

The best possible scenario for me is that all of them disappear for good. The second best is that Richie drives Jon to be better and we get something worthwhile from the band. If it continues like this Jon will becomes a business man doing the odd corporate gig and I shit you not, Richie will be off the map within 18 months. He is not a big enough name to sustain a career and his ego is too big to plum the depths of the music scene.

I am willing to have a pathetic forum bet with anyone that Richie will not last if he pursues a solo career.

However, I am starting to warm to Richie´s performances. I am in no way biased, so I called the other performances shit because they just were, but he has got better there´s no question. Either he is focusing, having his ass kicked by his band for being sloppy, or he just needed practice. Probably a bit of all.

whatever - the clips from these last two gigs - Sydney and Melbourne are just WTF moments. Beautiful! And honestly - I'd take these two gigs over anything Jovi related in the last decade. Miles and miles better actually.

And I don't csare about his solo career. If he gigs like that and plays a summer of festivals - he can be as big as Slash is, certainly in Europe. I mean, all he needs is some proper marketing. Shouldn't take too long given that kind of stuff....

I think Richie can survive with short tours worldwide. Australia, Europe, Japan, Canada and South America Could have his audience in each tour. Small audiences, hopefully some arenas, but that's okay, I mean, he is 55, sings and plays pretty decent. His name can be strengthened over time as "the legendary guitarist of Bon Jovi". Also, I think it would be well received in some European festivals.

At least you can try it for a couple of years, then come back with Bon Jovi to return to bust the charts.

He hasn´t got the market cache that Slash has, and I am not a fan of Slash. I know you mentioned marketing, but how is Richie going to market himself realistically? Slash does have a following outside of Guns, and it is enough for him to have a decent solo career. Richie´s following outside of Bon Jovi is tiny (read non existent).

In my opinion Richie pisses all over Slash in any criteria I would look for, but he simply wouldn´t be as big as Slash in Europe, which isn´t very big anyway. For a start, he wouldn´t get the respect Slash would at most festivals, which is nonsense but true.

I agree with you to an extent that if Richie gigs to his potential, non-fans who see him will be inspired to seek his music out. However, most of the people going to see him are there because they know him from Bon Jovi. And I doubt many are racing to buy his records from the festival he did last week.

Loads of people are happy because he is showing that there is more to him than just Bon Jovi. great, but there is so much more to Sambora than what we are seeing here, he is or has been so much better at this in almost every aspect of what he is doing at the moment, whether it is gigging, recording, or media.

Edit: I am not disputing that Richie could have a solo career, I just don´t think he could have one at a level that his ego needs, at least long term.

I agree with you, he could, and if he continues improving I would like that and would go to see him. I don´t think he wants that, he bigs everything up to stupid levels, which suggests either his ego is too big or he craves to be liked more than he is. I think the failure of Aftermath cut him deep... man.

Like I said, long term it wouldn´t work, unless he has another change of personality of course. I said beyond 18 months he would be done and either back with the band or off the face of the Earth.

I think it would be nice that Richie could do both, a new solo album, with a little tour 25-30 shows. And then an album with Bon Jovi. I would like to have a Bon Jovi album every 4 years.

Posible solo tour:
Australia (3 shows)
Canada (3 Shows)
Japan (2 shows)
Europe: London (2 shows), Italy (1 show), Spain (1show), Germany (2 shows), Amsterdam (2 shows), Switzerland (2 shows)
South America: Argentina (1 show), Brazil (1shows).
USA (5 shows)

Small audiences, or maybe a tour with other bands / artists together.

Except he attempted a North American Tour and it failed to the point of cancellation. If he couldn't do 1 Toronto show what makes you think he can do 3 shows in Canada? Same for North America.

There is no way I can get excited about Bon Jovi again. It's that simple. Jon's voice has become so damn annoying and useless, I can't see what sort of record they could record as a band that would be more exciting than a Richie solo project. As a singer - Jon has lost it. And it's irreparable I am afraid.

Honestly - there are so many opportunities for Richie to be a meaningful solo artist. The way he performs, there's no way he won't get the adulation to keep his ego alive, even if he plays with ****in' Slayer.

I forgot. He need a strong promotion to start, I'm sure not counted on that last time. I think he can aspire to a short path like Joey Perry done, a solo tour with other bands together.

Richie's just not THAT impressive a guitar player when he's singing at the same time. That Purple Rain clip pretty much proves that he can still do some pretty cool stuff if he isn't struggling to remember lyrics and chords at the same time. He's a great texture player, but that stuff is tough to pull off (especially if you wanna improvise) when you're busy singing.

Ori's playing is a lot cleaner than Richie's, still.

And the bass player might not be as good as Hugh, but he sure looks cooler.

Either way, THIS is the kind of loose and jammy stuff he should've pulled outta the head with all this "just a band jamming" talk about Aftermath.

His guitar work while he was singing Bridge Over Troubled Water was unreal when I saw him on Wednesday.

Oh man, that Purple Rain. That stuff is so good!

yer man can certainly sing! Had never heard of him until this! Wow.

As for Richie, meh. If people are clinging to THIS as an example of his solo artist credentials, then they might as well forget.

Yes it's spontaneous but then so was the jam session i was playing at last night-doesn't mean it was good. I HATE how both Richie and Ori play lead over the top of one another-makes it near impossible to decipher who's playing what-although Richie is butchering bends all over the place.

Thank you for speaking what's been on my mind when watching these videos. When they're swapping off solos it's cool, but when they're playing at the same time it just sounds like a wall of sound (not a nice sounding wall at that), and Richie's bending always seems a bit off next to Orianthi's.

Glad to have been of assistance. Richie, compared to 84-95 is nowhere in guitarist terms.

People then say "He's a 50 something man-of course he's not as hot as he was!"

I say to them-look at Slash, Yngwie, Vai, Satriani, Gary Moore (RIP)....all these cats have become tidier players arguably since their "prime".

Richie is bordering on parody in his current shape. Get your chops sorted boyo!

I can tell you categorically that they were not playing the same parts for the majority of the two hour show I was at on Wednesday.

This was a concern of mine prior - you've clearly seen some evidence of it (I'm presuming you're a guitarist) on Youtube - but my concerns proved generally unfounded.

Saying he is a parody of himself is a major over reaction to a few minutes of video footage. If he does a Scotland gig, go along and see/hear for yourself.

I don't have the full setlist but the following songs have been confirmed:

Every Road Leads Home to You
I’ll Be There For You
Sugar Daddy
Lay Your Hands on Me
Seven Years Gone
Don’t Change
Livin’ on a Prayer
These Days
Purple Rain

Also, it's absolute rubbish. His playing has improved significantly since he started the tour. I mean, he's miles better than he was at that Valentine's day gig with Orianthi even. And some of the stuff he plays is just in a league of its own. So yeah - not sure where sambos apprentice is coming from, but even judging on these youtube clips - you can totally tell that he's been improving. Yes - sometimes they play on top of each other which is a bit annoying. And Orianthi still outshred him. But he's got that bluesy vibe back. And his licks have become more 'Samboraesque' again.

As about all the other guitarists mentioned - you used the right word there 'arguably'. Slash's playing has only improved because he sobered up a bit. He's still a sloppy player and very hit and miss in terms of quality of live shows. Satriani is technically brilliant but he's always been. And someone like Steve Vai has become less and less creative since his heyday. So that's all debatable there.

In his current form - Richie is easily one of the top rock n roll guitarists to go see live. With emphasis on the rock 'n' roll!

I agree, he has improved a lot over the weeks, but Sambo´s Apprentice didn´t say otherwise. Despite that improvement he is nowhere near where he should be as a guitarist. His licks have always been "Samboraesque" he just repeats them, but yeah he has varied it up a bit, surely the influence of another guitarist coming to the fore. The point about bends was right too, he is killing a lot of them. He is getting better though, and I would be interested to see where that improvement would take him through more gigging.

I understand some people don´t play guitar or don´t even care, but why say it is "unreal" playing if it isn´t? I would say very few guitarists in history have been "unreal" so while some are over-reacting negatively, there is certainly a lot of towel slapping going on the other way too.

Slash is pretty sloppy live so is hardly a good example of someone who has improved with age. Vai has improved technically (Sambo didn´t mention creativity), but then him and Satriani were always on a different level to Richie anyway.

Sambora is my all-time favorite, but he has NEVER played stuff "in a league of its own," again something that has only been achieved by a select few. So in terms of saying the critique of his playing is rubbish, it just isn´t, and there are a bunch of guitarists better than Richie right now. I totally reserve the right to change that opinion because as I said he is improving and he has always had something most of the other guitarists haven´t, the ability to bring the whole package.

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http://instagram.com/p/k56KZFNSfP/#

Always thought Corey Glover had one of the best voices out there and totally loved Living Colour. Love, love, love seeing him in this clip..the guy still has a great voice!!

no one beats Dime Bag Darrell live so thats that conversation ended.

Exactly what I was speaking about. A technically brilliant blues guitarist. He's not back there yet - but even so - I can't think of many who are better at that than Richie. And that's what I meant with 'league of his own'[even if that may sound a bit bombastic]

It's Dimebag not Dime Bag so that pretty much sums up what I think about your point of view.

And there are plenty who beat him live.

I'll just say one thing for Richie, he is also a singer, and must also play the guitar. However, Slash does not sing, so it's all easier for him. Richie can aspire to something more forceful as Joe Perry solo proyect, even might have some more success if things are done right from marketing and promotion.

Mark Tremonti. Right. The 4th greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time has never played a 1959 les paul?

For those who don't know him - he used to play guitar for Creed.

Are Creed or Alter Bridge heavy metal?

In my book, they're just a bit more metal than Nickelback. But I could be wrong :D

Shits all over Richie. Gap or no game in his name.
Not saying I dont rate Richie - he was fantastic between 84-95

Might be a bit difficult given he's dead. I could also be speaking about Jimi Hendrix, saying how he's stuff is just surreal. Then again, not sure where I'd get quite enough LSD from to see him live...

I saw Pantera about 3 times - this guy was awesome.
He was banned from guitar competions at 14 - even from higher age sections- cos he was too good.

+10000000000000000000000

and don't forget Paul Gilbert with every new release he proves he's still getting better

While I agree that Richie is terribly sloppy and needn´t be, even at 50+, most of the names he has been compared to are entirely different kinds of players.

In terms of outright technique and playing ability Richie has never matched Malmsteen, Satriani, Vai, and Gilbert, whether in 1988, 1995, or 2014. Those guys play guitar, with the odd exception all of their projects are geared around guitar. They practice everyday because they are virtuoso´s. Richie has always put the craft of the song first.

So while I could name some rock players killing Richie in terms of still hitting the notes at 50 years old, those guys named above are in another world. If those guys weren´t excellent they wouldn´t be recording or touring anymore. Richie is about the whole package.