Aloha !

Nonsense. Richie's played intoxicated for years and years. However, Richie's started making mistakes ever since his personal life went off the rails and with the way he's been acting the past few years I seriously doubt the man for being sober. Whether it's alcohol or prescription drugs with weird side effects I don't know, but he just doesn't come across as sober. Especially not considering how the way he's acting now is a bit different from when I saw him play in Amsterdam.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Aloha !

No, I've seen him perform sober, tipsy and drunk, I know the difference by now. In Amsterdam he was very nervous the first night, the second night was better but still nervous. The way he's acting now is way too confident, and that combined with him slurring words and just being completely off his usual game makes it hard to believe that he actually sober. :)

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Dear old Richie couldn't be more far off the wagon than he is right now. Anyone else claiming differently are probably both blind and diving-head-first-drunk.

ya kidding right? :rolleyes: noone sees this but you? i was there at the melkweg.. did not see him nervous once.. excited yes? but nervous nah way.. & a hard man like u sebastian, i find difficulty accepting you criticize the man for being rock anyways.. while jon is playing soft shit with KOS you rather listen to that drivel for the fangirlys than what richie can play? are you a darksider or a mouse ? :D;)

Aloha !

I'd say it's fair to say that at most shows most fans are unable to detect Jon's autopilot mode either. It's why they're still capable of selling as many tickets as they do, but yeah, Richie was very nervous at the first show. Just because most people, including you, don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

But, as a matter of fact, I was talking with a few other average Joe's there who said the same thing that night. He was playing in front of die hards who knew all the words, yet he didn't seem entirely convinced of himself. His playing was below par, as it still is, and his singing was screechy at times.

The second night wasn't that bad, but throughout the entire Aftermath tour, if you can call it that, his confidence seemed to be lacking, exactly because he seemed to be performing completely sober for the first time in years. The way it's progressed to what it is now though isn't natural. You don't go from being borderline shy and insecure to being the overblown wannabe rock star in half a year.

I don't really understand why I need to pick sides with Richie and Jon now though. And there's a whole difference to what Richie can play, and what Richie is actually playing. Both men are performing way below what they're capable of. Jon however seems to be rather comfortable with it, while Richie is so over the top nowadays that it's hard to believe the act he's presenting you.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I disagree with 99% of what my Dutch nemesis says but unfortunately he's correct on this one. Richie is an alcoholic and has an addictive personality. It happens to a lot of people, just that some people deal with it better than others. Richie would rather live in denial and brush it under the carpet. No person of sober mind would do what he did this time last year and carry on with a list of stupidities.

Its a viscous circle what Richie is suffering. He's trying to convince himself and his fans he's sober, yet trying to convince himself that he's actually any good at what he's doing at this moment in time. The moment he comes off the juice he'll get a reality check and back track, probably go back to the band and realise that he will never have more than 1% success that Jon has as a front man. But while he's pissed as a fart he's keeping the 100's of fans happy at these stupid pointless gigs thinking he's Jimmy Big Bollocks. Dont get me wrong he's a fantastic world class guitarist, musician and song writer, but as a front man he isn't good enough to even carry Jon's jock strap. (if he were to wear one).

If I'm seeing someone paint Seb as a Jon fan boy then I've seen everything.

i don't expect you to take sides... I'm still a fan of the bandmembers.. but richies voice has gotten better in yrs & Jon's has worsen.. surprised I guess that he hasnt garnered more male support cos hes really the darksider of Bon Jovi & now hes returned to his darkside roots doesnt make someone a substance abuser.. :rolleyes:

Aloha !

Richie's voice hasn't gotten better over the years either. It hasn't detoriated as much as Jon's voice, but it's certainly not what it was either. He's permanently hoarse nowadays, it's just that he's lucky and is able to get away with it because it doesn't sound as bad like when Jon's hoarse when having a cold or something like it. Richie's voice however has suffered from the amounts of substance abuse much like Jon's voice has suffered from all the smoking the last 20 years. Any rendition of Stranger In This Town of the past few years has him at times coughing and shouting the words, much like his renditions of I'll Be There For You are no longer what they used to be. I'd even go as far as saying Jon's renditions of it from 2008 - 2013 were sung better than what Richie's been coming up with.

As for Richie going back to his darkside roots...I'm not seeing it. Undiscovered Soul was rather bland and safe, and Aftermath, albeit a bit heavier, is mostly just a collection of songs that are just a wee bit too rocky for nowadays Bon Jovi standards. Just because he's suddenly started writing about moths dancing in lights and getting high of a drinking binge doesn't mean he's back to his darkside. Just like playing a rather average rendition of Voodoo Child doesn't mean going back to his darkside roots. I fail to understand why you seem to think all of this has anything to do with his substance abuse. I never indicated the two are related, so why trying to connect the two?

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan