A December to Remember, 12/4: Things I'm Thankful For

In 1997, I was a huge Stone Temple Pilots fan. They were my favorite band at the time, and their album, "Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" was one of the biggest albums of that time. The song "Big Bang Baby" was a huge hit (with a weird music video), and tickets to their tour were well sought after. My dad got four seats to see them at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena, and I was lucky enough to get one of them. From "Dead and Bloated" to kick off the concert, to "Sex Type Thing" to finish it, the concert was awesome.

The former STP lead-singer, Scott Weiland, died last night in Minneapolis on his tour bus, with his new band "The Wildabouts." Weiland could simply never kick his heroin addiction. He was kicked out of his band, and his second mainstream success band, Velvet Revolver, just kind of faded out. His career never really recovered right after that.

I'm thankful I saw STP at a point when their career. I'm thankful I saw Scott Weiland while he was still a great showman. I'm thankful that I do not battle a killer addiction the way Weiland did his whole adult life. I hope his soul finds peace, and his family does too.