Glad to have been of assistance. Richie, compared to 84-95 is nowhere in guitarist terms.

People then say "He's a 50 something man-of course he's not as hot as he was!"

I say to them-look at Slash, Yngwie, Vai, Satriani, Gary Moore (RIP)....all these cats have become tidier players arguably since their "prime".

Richie is bordering on parody in his current shape. Get your chops sorted boyo!

I can tell you categorically that they were not playing the same parts for the majority of the two hour show I was at on Wednesday.

This was a concern of mine prior - you've clearly seen some evidence of it (I'm presuming you're a guitarist) on Youtube - but my concerns proved generally unfounded.

Saying he is a parody of himself is a major over reaction to a few minutes of video footage. If he does a Scotland gig, go along and see/hear for yourself.

I don't have the full setlist but the following songs have been confirmed:

Every Road Leads Home to You
I’ll Be There For You
Sugar Daddy
Lay Your Hands on Me
Seven Years Gone
Don’t Change
Livin’ on a Prayer
These Days
Purple Rain

Also, it's absolute rubbish. His playing has improved significantly since he started the tour. I mean, he's miles better than he was at that Valentine's day gig with Orianthi even. And some of the stuff he plays is just in a league of its own. So yeah - not sure where sambos apprentice is coming from, but even judging on these youtube clips - you can totally tell that he's been improving. Yes - sometimes they play on top of each other which is a bit annoying. And Orianthi still outshred him. But he's got that bluesy vibe back. And his licks have become more 'Samboraesque' again.

As about all the other guitarists mentioned - you used the right word there 'arguably'. Slash's playing has only improved because he sobered up a bit. He's still a sloppy player and very hit and miss in terms of quality of live shows. Satriani is technically brilliant but he's always been. And someone like Steve Vai has become less and less creative since his heyday. So that's all debatable there.

In his current form - Richie is easily one of the top rock n roll guitarists to go see live. With emphasis on the rock 'n' roll!

I agree, he has improved a lot over the weeks, but Sambo´s Apprentice didn´t say otherwise. Despite that improvement he is nowhere near where he should be as a guitarist. His licks have always been "Samboraesque" he just repeats them, but yeah he has varied it up a bit, surely the influence of another guitarist coming to the fore. The point about bends was right too, he is killing a lot of them. He is getting better though, and I would be interested to see where that improvement would take him through more gigging.

I understand some people don´t play guitar or don´t even care, but why say it is "unreal" playing if it isn´t? I would say very few guitarists in history have been "unreal" so while some are over-reacting negatively, there is certainly a lot of towel slapping going on the other way too.

Slash is pretty sloppy live so is hardly a good example of someone who has improved with age. Vai has improved technically (Sambo didn´t mention creativity), but then him and Satriani were always on a different level to Richie anyway.

Sambora is my all-time favorite, but he has NEVER played stuff "in a league of its own," again something that has only been achieved by a select few. So in terms of saying the critique of his playing is rubbish, it just isn´t, and there are a bunch of guitarists better than Richie right now. I totally reserve the right to change that opinion because as I said he is improving and he has always had something most of the other guitarists haven´t, the ability to bring the whole package.

http://oi59.tinypic.com/2nlr8gk.jpg
http://instagram.com/p/k56KZFNSfP/#

Always thought Corey Glover had one of the best voices out there and totally loved Living Colour. Love, love, love seeing him in this clip..the guy still has a great voice!!

no one beats Dime Bag Darrell live so thats that conversation ended.

Exactly what I was speaking about. A technically brilliant blues guitarist. He's not back there yet - but even so - I can't think of many who are better at that than Richie. And that's what I meant with 'league of his own'[even if that may sound a bit bombastic]

It's Dimebag not Dime Bag so that pretty much sums up what I think about your point of view.