Hopefully you aspiring artists already know this, but touring in the metal scene is anything but glamorous, even when you’re a veteran, well-respected band. Exhibit A: Poison The Well’s Ford Econoline, due to pass the 200,000 mile mark as they cross the nation on the 10 for $10 Tour. Our pals at Noisecreep took some photos of the van, which, according to frontman Jeffrey Moreira, smells “like the inside of someone’s toenail.”
The van is fairly clean, probably because the band doesn’t really sleep in it. If they had a bus, they’d be sleeping in that. But according to Moreira, riding in a van is the only way a band like Poison the Well can make money on tour.
“We don’t have to pay a driver, we don’t have to rent a bus, or pay for the gas, which is way more than what comes into this thing,” he says.
Then, they show us their “traveling medicine cabinet,” a compartment inside the van’s console filled with drugs. “Its everything you need if you get sick on the road,” the singer says. “Zinc, Emergen-C, Advil, Theraflu, Tums, various painkillers. You’ve gotta keep yourself healthy on tour.”
Poison The Well is a great, hardworking band with a great attitude, and the kids out there should take notice. They are textbook road dogs and still operating with a smart budget to ensure a successful tour. More often than not we hear about rookie bands who wreck any chance of bringing a decent amount of money home from their first major tour because they just had to have a tour bus. Hey, this is America! If you dream of something, you’re entitled to it the first chance you get!
