Best of 2018: Witch Mountain's Nathan Carson Picks Top 11 Crash Pads of Summer Tour | Revolver

Best of 2018: Witch Mountain's Nathan Carson Picks Top 11 Crash Pads of Summer Tour

Woods, lofts and one haunted Alzheimer patient care facility
witch mountain PRESS, Whitey McConnaughy
Witch Mountain, 2018
photograph by Whitey McConnaughy

Touring smarter (not harder) has always been the Witch Mountain way. And while most bands (including ours) have slept in some pretty sketchy crash pads over the years, things have definitely improved. After 20 years in the same band, we've made friends around the country. And as they've aged with us, and their kids have left the nest, we've been offered some pretty supreme accommodations, which save us on hotels, and give us a welcome respite during our six-days-a-week tour schedule. Here are some of our most memorable from the summer 2018 trip.

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1. Backwoods Southern Oregon

Since it's a long drive from Portland to Sacramento, we stayed in backwoods Southern Oregon with Justin's cousin Deborah and her partner Clark. They have a big cabin with dogs, a woodstove and TONS of homegrown weed. We slept very well that first night.

2. Alzheimer Patient Care Facility in Sacramento

An old friend of Rob's named Tim showed up in Sacramento. He has a job caretaking a former Alzheimer patient care facility. It was empty and everyone got their own room, though each bed hadn't been turned over in months and the place seemed haunted as fuck. We filmed a mini-horror movie there that you can see on our @witchmountainband Instagram [see below].

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3. With Friends in San Diego

My friends Tamar and Steven recently relocated to San Diego. Apparently down there you can buy a really nice house with a pool for a reasonable price because that's what they did. We enjoyed the hell out of their company and their beautiful home.

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4. Uncle's House in Albuquerque

Justin's uncle Mike owns a beautiful home in Albuquerque. He wasn't even staying there, but he let us raid his fridge, drink his beer and play his vintage pinball machines. 

5. Farmhouse in Knoxville

Our good buddy Johnny recently took over his mother's farmhouse outside Knoxville, Tennessee. It was a summer night in the south, and just having the dome light on in our van filled it with bugs in seconds. But we had a great night's rest and dried off after the mini-monsoon that hit during our show at the always-wonderful Pilot Light.

6. Country Chateau in Philly

Whenever we go to Philadelphia, we always stay in Downington at the country chateau that our friend Matt's parents own. Everyone gets a bed and a shower and mom usually leaves out a meal for us to enjoy upon arrival. Doesn't get better than this.

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7. Loft in Manhattan

Or does it? After our show at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, our friend and compatriot Steve handed us the keys to his loft in Manhattan. He had purchased it from David Byrne. As you can imagine — it was fucking NICE.

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8. Woods in Massachusetts

We had a night off between New York and Boston, so we stayed outside Providence in the woods of Dighton, Massachusetts, at my girlfriend's mom's house. Rob finally caught up on about 12 hours of sleep there as he said it reminded him of the woods in Georgia from his childhood. Justin just smoked bowls with mom.

9. Camping in Canada

Before and after Ottawa, we camped with our friends Jen and Derek at their place in Kemptville, Ontario. They set up beds for everyone and cook a mean Canadian breakfast. We love those two and keep going back.

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10. Studio in Chicago

We almost boned this one, but at the last second, Rob realized that his friend Quentin had just bought a new home studio in the South suburb's of Chicago. Once again there was a pool, separate rooms/beds for all and it was just perfect.

11. Canadian Airbnb Where a Stabbing Took Place Outside

This is more of a "memorable" stop than a good one, but the promoters in Montreal got us an Airbnb. It was OK, and we dropped our bags there for a quick nap and shower before the show. After the gig, we attempted to drive back to the apartment but were headed off at the pass by police cruisers and caution tape. Turns out someone was stabbed immediately out front of where we were staying. They said it could be all night before we might get inside. We were already exhausted, but we made the most of it, and braved the girls-gone-wild madness of Montreal on a Thursday night at 1:30 a.m. and got poutine and hot dogs with our friend Marc. When the meal was over, we returned to find the cops gone, and passed the rest of the night without event. Never a dull moment on doom-metal tour!