Thanks for your reply. Your help is much appreciated. I am sorry that the last few years, fans were unable to enjoy stuff on here. I know the feeling, I was away because I wasn't enjoying much either. You have to understand that at that time, my disappointment with Scott Weiland's decline and STP moving on with the band name and a new singer made me feel almost exactly the same adjectives you used.
For years, I had felt some kind of pride (and possibly arrogance) that STP had weathered their storms and had come out the other end with their original lineup. Everyone I knew, especially here in Europe, had ridiculed STP, their music and in some instances my love for their music from the mid 90's until now. In 2010, I was happy to say to most/all the fans of other bands from STP's era, that at least I stood by a band who were the 'real deal'. No band member replacements, no new drummers, guitarists, bass players or whatever else bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, etc, etc. did. Yes, I felt like STP were in the same league as Led Zeppelin and the likes. This was THE band in my book. I listen to tons of other music, but STP has always been far above and beyond anything else. At that time in 2013, to partially quote you, I thought it was pretty ridiculous, distasteful and rude for the rest of the band to 'officially terminate' Scott with a press release and lawsuit.
Of course with time comes wisdom and I've grown and learned a lot over the past few years. Now, after the shock and disappointment have subsided, I do understand that no matter how great Scott used to be, even with his partial physical presence in STP in the later days, this band was beyond dysfunctional. Sometimes there's even a part of me that wonders what 'could have been' if they'd moved on sooner. But that's just as unproductive and unrealistic as wondering what could have been if Scott hadn't taken the path he walked. Chances are that if Scott wasn't exactly the way he was, STP would have never been what they have been. Anyway, what I mean to say is: after my deep disappointment, I was able to put some stuff in perspective.
For the record: nothing personal against Chester or anyone else. Looking back, it may have been selfish (even though this site is not a company but a hobby--something that's bothered me in the past from time to time is that some people take it for granted and even start to expect and demand certain things--, but if my heart's not in something, I stay away from it. And that's what happened.
I am looking to include the band/performance information from 2013-2017 on the site, but it might take me a while to collect and process it. I don't want to copy/steal your archives. And I do want Chester to have a great bio page on Below Empty, but I wouldn't know where to start to be honest.
