Bon Jovi to finish tour without Richie Sambora

[Mr. T]

I truly love the way a simple news item of this nature can generate such passion and diversified views among true music lovers. All I am saying is that all of us here are here for the love of music and THAT makes CRF a very cool place to hang...

 

[Lynch]

I truly love the way a simple news item of this nature can generate such passion and diversified views among true music lovers. All I am saying is that all of us here are here for the love of music and THAT makes CRF a very cool place to hang...

indeed!

 

[annie]

I became a fan of Bon Jovi because of the vocal harmonies and the overall sound of the band, of which Richie was a major part. But having said that, if he wasn't missed, he had it coming. I have no respect for such behavior and disregard for what it does to his fellow bandmates.

 

[aeroplane]

^^Although Sambora is an integral part of Bon Jovi, it would be far easier to replace him in the middle of a world tour than Jon Bon Jovi himself, I have always maintained for better or worse in the majority of bands it's the lead singer that provides the signature sound.

Also this is not like cancer or a serious medical illness, this is about lack of self control and addiction and a relapse. While I agree with Groovy about him being in a bad way and needing to take care of his demons, when you are part of a band they have an even bigger responsibility to keep touring for their fans.

I am sure that a replacement guitarist can be found to fill in for now, finish the tour and that would be far better for everyone than canceling the rest of the concerts.

Bob, if I were you I would still go, they might never be back your way again so take this opportunity to see them live.

I agree with most of the above, which you may already see based on my prior responses.

It isn't cool for a fan to buy tickets only for Sambora to end up in rehab. However, it also isn't cool for a fan to buy tickets, schedule vacation time or days off at their job and have the band cancel or postpone those dates forcing that fan to rearrange vacation plans or days off with their employer and forcing fans to d*ck around trying to either get a refund for their tickets (if it is even offered) or figure out when the make-up shows are going to be occuring and plan for those. Sometimes it is just better to get another guy in there and carry on, so people can avoid the hassle of dealing with cancelled dates.

For example, I bought Deep Purple tickets when I was in high school (around 1998) and was excited as hell to catch them live since they don't come to Maine often. Then a few weeks later, the show was cancelled due to some legal difficulty with one of the band members (not Gillan however). DUI or something along those lines. I was pissed and would have rather seen them with a fill-in musician than not see them at all, because they don't come to Maine regularly.

I've noticed from recent press releases that JBJ actually has a couple guys who will be playing guitar during these shows while Sambora is on ice.

One of the guys is indeed from Triumph but it appears Bon Jovi also will be taking one of their backup guitarists who already plays for them on tour (in the background) and featuring him more prominently.

Anyone who questions the loyalty of Jon Bon Jovi, however, shouldn't be so quick to do it. Yeah, he fired Alec Jon Such over a decade ago because his bass playing had become increasingly sloppy on tour. However, even though Bon Jovi has had a replacement in the band on bass for over ten years now (Hugh MacDonald), the band still doesn't classify him as a "permanent" or "official" member and to this day, Jon says Alec is always going to be known as our bass player and will never be replaced.

That's a pretty nice thing to do for a guy fired back in the late 1990's, especially considering the firing got a little ugly.

It sucks for the guy who has been their bass player in the studio and on tour for a decade but that's life

 

[Fever]

I have always wondered how bands decide who is a part of the band and who is just a supporting member
During the last Van Halen tour with Hagar,Alan Fitzgerald played keyboards off the stage.You couldn't even see him.

Fleetwood Mac has a couple of other guys play with them on stage but they aren't considered members of the band.
Now in all the promotion for a couple of Doobie Brothers songs all I see is Tom Johnston,John McFee and Patrick Simmons.Drummer Michael Hossack is out temporarily due to health problems but they do have a new drummer.Current bass player John Cowan isn't considered a Doobie Brother.

 

[LG]

^^I've wondered about that myself Fever and I've come to the conclusion that it's either to keep the power and control of the band in the hands of the "original founding members", or has to do with how much money they pay for session musicians who tour with them. Maybe by keeping them in the shadows they save some money. I don't think that's fair, if you are playing with the band they should have you right out on stage with everyone else and introduce you to the audience, that is just showing a little class.

 

[aeroplane]

^^I've wondered about that myself Fever and I've come to the conclusion that it's either to keep the power and control of the band in the hands of the "original founding members", or has to do with how much money they pay for session musicians who tour with them. Maybe by keeping them in the shadows they save some money. I don't think that's fair, if you are playing with the band they should have you right out on stage with everyone else and introduce you to the audience, that is just showing a little class.

But then that means if you start acknowledging all of the fringe members (very talented ones mind you) who have contributed to established groups over the years, then it makes things a little confusing for an average fan, especially if some of these people come and go a lot.

If someone such as John Mellencamp or Tom Petty suddenly acknowledged all of the session people they use as "real" band members, then it begins to look a little bit dicey to some fans when these people leave Tom Petty to do some other project for another musician. Then you end up with people saying, "Damn, he goes through a lot of members" or worse yet, "John Mellencamp is the only original member left in his band!"

You notice that guys like Alice Cooper, Ozzy, Nugent and others of that ilk are a little less quick to "promote" individual members of their band than they used to be when starting out? There's a reason.

 

[LG]

Bob Seger always introduced his band, and so do numerous other artists when they tour no matter if they are the 4th drummer/bassist/guitarist or not. David Gilmour always introduced his band members when they toured with Pink Floyd.

I would choose to do that myself, it just feels right to me.

 

[aeroplane]

Bob Seger always introduced his band, and so do numerous other artists when they tour no matter if they are the 4th drummer/bassist/guitarist or not. David Gilmour always introduced his band members when they toured with Pink Floyd.

I would choose to do that myself, it just feels right to me.

Well......

Ya know.......

Um.......

Er.......

Eh........

Uh?

I got nothing