I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bobby... I know most are happy that he's gone but he was still a touring member and solo coordinator who is no longer with Jon...

I absolutely miss his voice and his knowledge of past songs allowing Jon to dip into whatever he wants but his guitar playing never felt as needed to me.

Yeah, I happened upon Rock In Rio 2013 yesterday and his awful Bad Name solo came back to haunt me. That and In These Arms butchering are not missed at all.

I'm still at a loss why they gave him solos, especially with Sambora still in the band, that's not his strength at all.

Nor any good. Seriously, anything other than rhythm or one-note-orgasmic-solos are not Bobbie's cup of tea ;-)

Bobby brought a lot to the table that people will never appreciate because his contributions were never as in your face as everyone else. Bobby played a lot of the layered guitars that the band does in the studio and somehow Shanks isn't playing them, or at least not the same way. His knowledge of the catalog and how Jon relied on him for a lot of backing, he became sort of like on par with Richie in supporting Jon's vocals. I absolutely believe if Bobby was still in the band the sets would have varied far more on the last leg and we would have a better more dynamic performer out of Jon.

PS
I'll probably catch hell for this but I personally find Shanks Bad Name and KTF solos just a tiny bit better than Bobby's. Almost the same if I'm being honest....

in the end it happens to all bands like Jovi,voice is shot,they are older and older,someone leaves the band,guitar player,drummer etc. I would pay to see them in Europe if they come next year regardless of Jons voice,I still enjoy hear them play and they play really good,maybe he recovers his voice just little bit:)

My first post in months...

This is embarrassing beyond belief. I have been a fan of this band for many many years but the legacy is now being shat on. Stop now please.

As a studio act, they are still more than acceptable in my opinion, and the albums are what lives on forever so they could happily carry on putting out records as far as I'm concerned.

As a live act, yep there's struggles for sure. Who knows if they are fixable. Even the 2013 Jon was fine by me (although, the UK dates I did was fortunate in being some of the better ones) although his voice is not just worse, but totally different and devoid of any power, unlike the previous decline year to year.

I would still go and see them in Europe, but they really can't be charging the big ticket prices if they can't deliver a decent show. I enjoyed the Palladium show in 2016, and he sounds good enough in the flesh on the new stuff. Bad Medicine was brutal, but most people still enjoyed it.

It's acceptable when you're there, but sadly nothing to be proud of or show off to people like they have been previously.

It is painful to watch him attempt to sing anything. Gripping the mic stand and even unable to play guitar now whilst singing... the studio stuff is ok but disposable after a while. There are a couple of songs I go back to but not many.

If Richie came back I'd book a ticket as more of the band I grew up with is there. He could even sing 3 or 4 songs himself. If that doesn't happen I'm done with the live act.

Richie won't come back. He no longer wanted to be in the band back in April '13, and his attitude hasn't changed since then. Plus, the guy is completely f***ed up on booze/drugs/pretty much everything, so his unstable behavior both on and off stage would probably ruin the whole BJ tour if he even attempted to return.