Destination: Riot Fest
By Tom Lanham
photo by Pieter M. Van Hattem
K
ate Pierson may not have coined
the suddenly-popular new port-
manteau glamping, a mashup of
glamorous and camping. Nor did she
come up with its posh concept —experi-
encing the great outdoors, but through the
comfortable buffer of the most modern of
conveniences. No, the bouffant-haired B-
52’s founder had nothing to do with any
part of this evolving art’s origin story. But
she sure as hell would appreciate some
overdue kudos for perfecting it, thank you
very much. Because when it comes to
glamping, she’s quietly become the "host-
ess with the mostest."
You would imagine that the lady has
enough on her plate already, so many proj-
ects that there couldn’t possibly be any
spare time for another. First, and most
pressing, the annual shed-and-winery tour
that keeps the B-52’s busy through most of
the late summer and early fall — this one
commemorating the lovably eccentric
Athens, Georgia outfit’s — gasp! — 40th
anniversary including a stop at Riot Fest in
Douglas Park on September 15. Think you
can picture the typical crowd for “Rock
Lobster,” truly one of the most unlikely,
albeit otherworldly punk-era experiments
ever released? Fuggedaboudit, chortles
Pierson, a youthful 71. “We’ve played the
wineries with Blondie, The Pretenders,
Ziggy Marley — so many different peo-
ple,” she relates. “And we don’t have some
graying audience — we see a lot of young
people now, and they’re really into it. They
know all the words, and they’re dancing to
every song, and they’re…they’re just joy-
ous, really. It’s so much fun to see everyone
just cutting loose like that.” Especially after
four strenuous decades.
Ace archivists Rhino Records also just
released a 30th-anniversary edition of the
group’s 1989 commercial breakthrough
Cosmic Thing (which includes smash-hits
like “Roam” and “Love Shack,” plus
assorted remix/B-side rarities and an
entire Cosmic Tour concert from Texas in
1990). Additionally, an expansive box set is
in the works, for which Pierson and co-
vocalist Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson
are planning to record two new tracks.
She’s not sure yet, but she knows that
everyone even remotely connected to them
is feeling disgusted by today’s vengeful,
vitriolic state of affairs — where Mike
Judge’s once-satirical film ***Idiocracy is
coming true before our horrified gaze — so
she reckons the songs might turn out
somewhat political. Or not. They just
haven’t had a minute to get together and
collaborate yet.
But wait — there’s more. It’s just been
announced that superfan Fred Armisen of
Portlandia renown will be executive pro-
ducing a full-length B-52’s documentary, to
be helmed by Wilson/The Skeleton Twins
director Craig Johnson. On a personal
level, Pierson is releasing a new single with
Mexican artist Aleks Syntek called “The
Great Visible Wall.” “And even though it’s
metaphorical, it’s most assuredly politi-
cal,” she cautions. “And Aleks is very, very
famous in Mexico. But then I’ve got a sec-
ond solo record, ready to go, too (following
her Sia Furler-assisted 2015 debut Guitars
and Microphones) — I’ve got a bunch of
great new songs, but I don’t know what to
call it. Usually, I like to name the record
after one of my songs, but nothing’s jump-
ing out at me yet.” She pauses, takes a
22 illinoisentertainer.com september 2019
deep calming breath, then adds some clar-
ity to the situation, in case it was still hazy
to anyone: “So we’ve, uh, got a LOT going
on right now.” True enough.
Then again, the Kate household is
always bustling with business. You might
aptly call it her base of operations. Her
wife of four years, Monica Coleman, sells
creepy, hand-painted Gothic glassware
under the banner of BadTableManner, and
through hip craft sites like Etsy, and she’s
been described as Morticia Addams meets
Martha Stewart. But together, the couple
quietly runs a little cottage industry. Quite
literally. And with entrepreneurial ardor,
Pierson bounds gleefully into a discussion
of this three-pronged venture, obviously
near and dear to her vagabond heart —
Kate’s Lazy Desert in Landers, CA, Kate’s
Lazy Meadow in Mount Tremper, N.Y.,
and Catskills-situated Kate’s Lazy Cabin,
all appointed with vintage touches like
turquoise Frigidaires and Boomerang
Formica countertops. The tchotchkes
adorning every room of these vacation
destinations are John Waters-campy, and
were carefully collected and curated by the
Boss on countless B-52’s tours when she
and Schneider would regularly disappear
to go junking or antiquing.
What knickknacks caught Pierson’s
vigilant eye? She sighs, openly admitting
that “They’re just too numerous to men-
tion.” But laying out her locations — espe-
cially Lazy Desert, which is all Airstream
trailers — is like a dream come true for this
Rutherford, NJ native, who would period-
ically box up her road acquisitions and
ship them home to the missus, keeping the
tour bus free from accumulating clutter.
“Every time I go there - to any of my places
— I just get a thrill, because I just love the
decor,” she says. “Like the decor in my
cabins, where each room is decked out
with mid-century tchotchkes, representing
both the high and the low, culturally. I had
to stop buying for Lazy Meadow because
it’s completely full now, and nobody ever
breaks anything — everybody treats it
with such respect. People used to tell me
that I’d better glue everything down or
people will steal it. But that never hap-
pens.”
Looking back on four decades of play-
ful purchases, the singer confesses to still
holding on to a few favorites. For instance,
there’s a three-paneled triptych of big-eyed
crying children that she adores, even
though it may not be what it seems. “I
think it’s a faux Keane,” she says.”It’s only
a knockoff.” There’s a particular brand of
wooden bears that she’s always on the
lookout for, a few disparate types of pot-
tery, “Be glad if your collection is small,”
she adds. “Be glad you never got into fur-
niture.” Other fronts demand constant
scrutiny. There’s a brand of weatherproof
German gnome that sells for roughly fifty
bucks, and when she heard the company
was splintering, she bought as many of the
bearded statuettes as she could until
Coleman put her foot down, snarling
“none shall pass!’ Everywhere you stroll
on the Lazy sites, there’s a wily gnome
peeking out at you from the underbrush,
or from behind a cottage cabinet indoors.
Yes, there are that many Heissner gnomes,
skulking around the property, distant
cousins of that snippy Travelocity mascot.
Pierson enjoys parsing fandom and col-
lecting, in general. And how every individ-
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