Let's call a spade a spade. I have said this on here before. I am sure the good guy that Robert, Dean, and Eric loved, as well as Duff and Dave, is still in there somewhere and could come out. But he's masked by someone else at this point. People are complex and we don't know Scott, but we can infer a lot. I think, at heart, Scott probably is a good guy. That's what the guys in his band probably see a lot of. But that also comes with a lot of baggage.
I'll take Scott at his word that many times he was late was actually due to fear, not rock and roll excess. But the New Jersey story with Robert banging on his trailer is rock and roll excess. And I think we can all probably guess that being a rock and roll star often times means you're going to act like one sometimes. So I think Scott can be a diva.
Then add the substance abuse problems, and that further complicates things. Scott is probably a much, much different guy when completely sober, like 2000 and some of 2001, and just after he joined Velvet Revolver. But those times are few and far between nowadays.
Scott has to make $60,000 a month just to maintain the status quo. Since music doesn't make money nowadays, that means he's gotta do a lot of touring. That's why the VIP stuff is there and that is why the Pledge stuff is there. His heart isn't in it.
Now, if he were sober and not feeling forced to tour and do these things, he'd probably do what he wanted to do, tour less, make music more, and then maybe meeting fans on tour and signing things is less a job and more a way to thank fans. But he seems tired and uninspired nowadays.
Make no mistake--he burned many a bridge and very few people want to play with him. STP and Slash, et al, could make more with Scott, but they choose not to. The baggage isn't worth it. As I joked before, with Art of Anarchy, he once played with Slash, and now he is playing with Slash's replacement (Buckethead)'s replacement. It's been a long fall.
People tend to change when they hit rock bottom. Or they die. Scott just keeps on floating. Maybe it needs to get worse again before it gets better.
I wish him nothing but the best. I like Blaster. But I'd much rather have STP or VR and a more inspired Scott. Above all, I want him healthy. Here's to that.
