That is one of the biggest shitty lies thrown around trying to make Richie seem nice throughout the years. Snake has confirmed at various interviews that no money was ever given back by anyone, Richie or Jon.

Yeah - didn't even mean to say that. Apparently (and even according to Snake) - Slash would have asked Richie to do so....whatever happened after is a different story. But, interestingly enough, Richie does get a thank you credit on the inner sleeve of Subhuman Race....


The point was more about Richie and Slash actually having been fairly close during the years...

Alex said it was a massive mistake to go on tour with them. Eddie was stating how Jovi were getting angry at them if they were not staying for the Jovi set. He also said that they had to up their game because of Van Halen, hence they changed the opener to Prayer. Stuff like this, basically implying that they were the bigger band and Jovi were just food on their plate which was absolutely not the case. The only one who I remember saying positive stuff was Sammy...who pointed out that it wasn't the right gig for them, Bon Jovi were just too big and they were not at their best so it made them appear poor.

Actually I do recall Eddie being a bit more humble about it. He said how it was the wrong audience for them to play for and he was sad when the fans didn't react to his guitar shredding, to which the narrator concluded "he wasn't the guitar hero to that audience" or something like that. He also said they wouldn't get a positive enthusiastic reaction after ending their set, so they had to change it and end the set with Jump and only that led to decent climax in the end.

So overall it was more about not being a good fit, but it didn't slag Bon Jovi. I'm not questioning what you just wrote, just adding what I recall reading about this. I think it was on Classic Rock magazine a few years ago, but I'm not sure.

Yeah - I think I read that too but that's all in hindsight. Immediately after the tour, they were certainly not in that reflective mood....

Sounds like a bunch of big talk from big, bruised egos to me. It can't be easy to be a member of Guns & Roses or Van Halen and be in an opening slot for anyone.

I saw Van Halen opening for Bon Jovi in 1995. Actually, they were announced as "special guest" and played a pretty long set if I recall correctly. But I was 11 and it wasn't only my first time seeing BJ, but my first concert in general. So I was excited and nervous at the same time. Nervous especially when I saw the enthusiastic reaction Van Halen were receiving from the crowd. And not just for "Jump", which I didn't even recognized then. I was relieved when the crowd exploded for BJ, "my" band. ;-)

Anyhow, I was quite impressed by Van Halen, which led me to buy their Best Of a couple of years later and then the "Balance" album, which they were touring in 1995.

Glory days.

Yup, wasn't my first concert ever, if I recall correctly, but definitely my first stadium concert. We had Ugly Kid Joe opening, then Van Halen for 2 hours and then BJ for 2 1/2 hours. Rain until the break between VH and BJ, which Jon made a comment about, and after the concert, the entire floor was filled with old umbrellas. Great day :-)

Trouble for Van Halen is in Europe they are simply not big a enough band in Europe and especially the UK. Jump aside I doubt many people - especially - non die hards would be able to name another song. Maybe Why Cant This Be Love at a push.
They just weren't big over this side of the pond.

I dont mind them but when I saw them support Jovi in 95 I wasnt blown away.

Here's Van Halen opening for Bon Jovi: