Quote:
Originally Posted by Thinny
The only issue that I have with Jon's recent comments is the one where he says "You gotta be able to play" or something along those lines, which implies that Richie was messing up regularly at shows. If this was true the clips would be all over YouTube. I haven't seen anything like that, have any of you? They all make mistakes every now and again, but there were not consistantly bad perfromances from Richie before the split - at least not while he was with the band. Afterwards, well, that's a different story.
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My personal opinion is Richie has been a sloppy guitar player since the turn of the century. I remember on the Crush DVD seeing things that were off and the quality was up and down thereafter. Although, I do not equate a general drop in quality to what Jon is suggesting. Especially when Jon has been on a similar arc and to a worse degree.
Jon is now suggesting that Richie was unable to play, and I think he is linking it to his addictions. Again, it is rich from Jon considering his own inability "to play" over the last decade. On this promotional cycle - which has been largely positive - Jon's insistence that "if I can't be 100% I won't do it" has been laughable.
Perhaps Jon is not letting go of the times when Richie was struggling, such as the MTV unplugged show. It is clear Jon struggles to let these things go, as we can see by is tired lines about "not turning up for work". Of course, Richie has had some disasters since leaving, perhaps Jon is referencing that.
I agree with you that I do not think this documentary will make anything clearer.