The enigma that is Bobby Bandiera.

Sigh.... you people really got nothing better to do than discussing this?

i knew of SS that he has a sad life.. but really?

I fully realize this thread is doing exactly what he wanted, I know. I need to show more restraint posting haha.

I think it's extremely sad thousands upon thousands of pages of this website have been dedicated to Jon or Richies weight and hair, but when talking about actual music and how it could be bad or good comes up (no matter who starts the topic) you get idiots who keep saying "OH MY GOSH LIEK Y ARE YOU SO NEGATIVE"... Negativity is a good thing and balances this board out. This would be quite the dreary place if it was all sunshine and lollipops. And so what if Seb may or may not be stirring the pot? It still brought out a civil discussion that was only ruined by thesedays2005 that apparently has nothing better to do than post and comment about Seb.

I have nothing against Bobby. As long as he sticks to the rythm guitar and vocals it's OK. He has an amazing voice, and I think he's helping Richie out a lot on the vocal side. Like on Bed of Roses he has taking over Richies back vocals in the chorus. I don't know the reason, but maybe Richie just can't accomplish it anymore. Bobby is more of a vocalist than a rythm guitarist for me. Drift Away from Stuttgart is an amazing performance in my book!!

And it would be unfair to say he doesn't fulfill the sound as a guitar player. Songs like WLOL, WWWB, WDYG wouldn't be possible without a 3rd guitar player. And the harmony on the Dry County intro is really taking the song to another level. And the acoustic guitar on the ballads like BOR is great IMO

It all probably boils down to a combination of all the reasons already posted.
Using the extra members for TLFR, then hanging on to them was probably because Jon was trying to get away with playing more TLFR versions of songs on subsequent tours- just that after they mostly when down like a sack of shit on the HAND tour, he didn't need them all. But at that time, Richie started going downhill in a big way- just watch the Milton Keynes night 1 show to see what a state Richie looks- so Bobby was probably hung around just in case. The Lost Highway experiment needed extra musicians, and then they still needed a crutch for Richie just in case as the potential for him to miss a show still hasn't gone away, or to not be at his peak like at the unplugged 2007 show.

So Jon keeps his mate from ages ago around. I don't really buy the sick kid excuse- Jon isnt that heartless to make a friend work for it whilst being so philanthropic elsewhere. Although maybe Bobby didn't want charity if that is the reason for it.

There's many reasons for Bobby being there in the first place, and working with Jon since at least 97 would be why he is Jon's go to guy. The question probably should be why he is still around when he is not doing a great job, especially given what a perfectionist Jon is supposed to be? It must be that Bobby fills the role Jon wants him to. He knows his limits, hence getting Phil X in to cover, its just strange that Jon gets him to do guitar solos when that really shouldn't be his role. His one note In These Arms solo is a disgrace.

PhilX was asked last August in a tweet "how do u rate Bobby? A lot of hardcore fans don't seem too impressed but he's been steady enough the shows I've seen." This was his answer: "bobby's got this thing that he rules. He nails the parts that are hard to nail flawlessly every night. Great voice too" and " just an example... he would jump in if i forgot to sing a harmony part in the verse of a song."

Just want to point out that Bobby also is a pretty respected musical director and plays and puts together a lot of shows to support various charities. He once said in an interview (paraphrasing) that people do not see him doing his best work in a Bon Jovi gig. I don't have the musical depth that a lot of you have but IMO Jon is in charge of Bon Jovi and what happens on stage so I kind of think any musical criticisms should be laid at Jon's door.

Finally someone says it. If that is the reason, I'm sure Bobby would rather work (or play music to thousands of people each night in case most of us don't see that as 'work') than just accept money from Jon. It may be a case of principles.

whole lot of leaving....fiddly we guitar part. bandiera nails it...i doubt richie could play it

Aloha !

Yeah, but considering that there's plenty of guitarists that can do a better job than Bobby does, I still wonder what's in it for Jon to hire him specificallly. I don't think he gives Richie some slack to be honest because as soon as Bobby is actually in the mix it just doesn't sound right anymore. The acoustic guitar on Bed Of Roses might be nice if you could hear it, but it's never been audible. They've always been able to cover Jon with David and Richie doing backing vocals and although Jon's voice is down the drain lately a few more Bobby Bandiera's won't save him.

I see other posters saying the same thing in here, but sometimes you just can't give your exact sources because for one you don't know them if I'd mention them to you and second, they'd rather not be mentioned. It's the same as with It's My Life. It's a well known fact in the music industry that Bon Jovi haven't exactly written all their songs themselves and many professional songwriters know that It's My Life was written by Max Martin, but no one gives their source away. That doesn't mean it's not true, and as far as hoaxes go I think it should be quite clear that this isn't one of them.

Nonsense. The only times you hear Bobby doing those songs is when the little fills need to be played, the intro to WLOL is played by him because Richie's got the electric guitar hanging around his neck. However, he's not playing it when Bobby does the intro so he could just switch guitars or use a stand with an acoustic on it like other bands do. There's plenty of creative solutions to it, Richie could do the harmony to Dry County by himself using an effects pedal if they really wanted the effect there, the list is endless.

Phil X must've been talking out of his arse then simply to be respectful to Bon Jovi. I can't exactly see him slam his former colleagues but there's not a part that Bobby plays that is hard to nail, apart from the vocal lines every now and then. As a matter of fact, the only parts in a Bon Jovi song that are hard to nail are Richie's guitar solo's. The rest of the stuff is very, very standard and are things that any musician can do, which is the whole reason why everyone apart from Richie can be replaced in Bon Jovi, and why Bobby surely isn't around to back up Richie as even the most talented guitar players can't copy his style.

As for Bobby being a pretty respected musical director; I believe he is. However, being a good musical director doesn't make you a good player. There's plenty of excellent coaches yet who were average players. The same goes for Bobby, yet Jon, the so called quarterback of the team, puts Bobby on the field while there are many better players out there. I still don't understand why Jon thinks Bobby should be with them on stage when all he's done over the past 6 years is make the band sound worse.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Thank You!! I don't think it's a case of Bobby your son is sick, you have to work for your money but more of a case of Bobby wanting to earn a living to help his sick son. Also it seems to be an ongoing situation where he needs help financially long term and not short term. Example where he needs an operation, here is the money but more where it's life time care.