Ephriam Nagler Tour Diaries – Installment I
Hello! This is Ephriam Nagler hailing from the I90 East! My upcoming schedule is a mess as I have a full US tour with The Velvet Teen, a solo show in Sitka, Alaska, and a short East Coast tour mixing The Good Life! Good-bye summer! Hello VAN-LIFE!
It all begins with a hard-boiled breakfast. No McDonalds here. We are trying to avoid the GACK at all costs. Someone is always getting sick on tour, no matter what the season. We also sterilize the steering wheel and door handles, as this is the “What About Bob” tour.
We just might be addicted to Guayaki and sun flares.
It’s hot. 95 degrees in Missoula, Montana. Good thing we are visiting only hot regions of America as we sink deeper into summer. Our van is like a red-hot branding iron, boring down into the grey and black asphalt of the interstate highways. Oh Californian blood, do NOT fail me now.
The common denominator of tour is the van. Van-life rules all. I’m sure there’s an equation to figure out just how many hours are spent sitting in the van, standing around the van, loading and unloading the van, etc. Though I’m sure it’s something I do not need to know.
We played Stage 112 in Missoula, Montana. The whole valley of Missoula used to be a glacial lake. You can see the remnants, as there are broad shorelines all over the hillside marking how high the water used to be. Unrelated to that, David Lynch was born here in Missoula.
Stage 112 is one of three stages in an old community center. Load-in leads you through a small haunted gym with a converted pool gone basketball court. Get ripped in a basement with all of your ghost buddies.
There should be a punching bag after every ten-hour drive. Luckily Casey Deitz did NOT break his hand on this one.
Josh Staples, aka JJ Stapes, aka coolest dude around. Visit him at the Last Record Store in Santa Rosa sometime. And be sure to bring him a kombucha and some red licorice.
Being on tour can mean being stuck with someone for 1000+ hours. Luckily, The Velvet Teen is one of the easiest bands for me to share my existence with. Beyond being a family band, we’ve all been best friends for years and years now.
Family band indeed, this is my older brother, Judah Nagler.
Back to the haunted gym and pool via the mini labyrinth of locker rooms and tiled hallways. Of course the lights don’t work. Why would they? They WANT you to stay down here, lost in darkness forever.
There’s only one way out, and of course someone hiding in the dark has to jump out and scream at you.
Montana has a unique vibe for sure. I always think of “The Hunt for Red October” when Sam Neill dies saying, “I would like to have seen Montana.” Yup, sorry bud, but it is pretty out here.