[Matrix15]

Just wondering, do you think there any songs that will never be played as long as richie is away?

I was listening to something for the pain earlier and thought how much it would lose without Richie and Jons harmony in the second half. I suppose they could get a stand in but not sure who.

Thoughts?

[Becky]

I think there are plenty of songs that will never be played live again, but I don't think it has anything to do with Richie being there or not. I don't think there's any song that Jon would NOT play because of some connection to Richie. Jon wrote or cowrote every song in the Bon Jovi arsenal, barring She Don't Know Me, so nothing is off limits for him. If they can get Phil to fill in for the talk-box parts which seem so essentially Richie, they can certainly get someone to fill in Richie's vocal parts which are not that unique. PS. I know Riche didn't create that talk-box sound and I'm not trying to be disrespectful to anyone who came before him.

[Rdkopper]

Nah, we're not there yet. If anything, I have high hopes for some rarities to make things interesting.

[Captain_jovi]

I agree. They won't be performed again not because of Richie's lack of being there, he's just in such a mode to not play anything the crowd won't respond to and using Phil as a blanket reason I think.

[jovifan93]

I think last tour proved that David can/will fill in those parts. Also I agree, it's not about Richie not being there that a song gets dumped, it's about Jon's ability to sing it and the expected response of the crowd...

[Faceman]

I think Stranger In This Town won't find its way into a Bon Jovi setlist as long as Richie is MIA

But like the others already said, the only reason for Jon not to sing a song is either because the audience doesn't like it or because he isn't able to sing it. Personal issues don't matter at all.

[Rdkopper]

I doubt Jon will invest in a guitar player for an album that he knows won't sell. Phil is a beast on guitar anyway plus he's got Bobby and Shanks (for the album) too... I think if anything, he's going to surprise everyone because if he starts dropping songs from his set, it proves that he can't survive without Richie. The only thing I'd like to see are shorter sets. Somewhere around 2 hours would be perfect. I don't need as many autopilot tunes. They are all starting to sound the same.

[jrssww]

I think songs that are really vocally demanding like Something to Believe In and Hey God will never be played again. Jon really struggled with Hey God the one time it was played in the last tour.

[Alphavictim]

Richie's most prominent backing vocals are in Wanted and I'll Be There For You. I seriously doubt that the band's gonna drop them because of Richie's absence.

[Bounce7800]

If Richie does come back, I'd say nothing from WAN would ever be played again.