Chris Cote, vocalist and guitarist of the unsigned band Kut U Up, came home from work with a new tattoo, a ton of life experience, new friends and a third degree burn on his ass. The burn was compliments of Cote's new friend "Uncle Billie," also known as Billie Joe Armstrong, the vocalist for punk pioneer Green Day.
Armstrong thought it would be a good idea to brand Cote's butt with a billard's bridge stick. Cote's band mate Brandon Parkhurst, who plays bass for Kut U Up, explains that when the "king of punk rock" asks you do to something, declining is not an option.
Cote, Parkhurst and the rest of Kut U Up were given an opportunity thousands of bands would kill for: they were invited to join a major arena tour. We can watch their dream come true on the DVD, Riding in Vans with Boys.
The film chronicles the nine-week Pop Disaster Tour and the personal journey Kut U Up collectively survived while opening for Blink 182, Green Day and Jimmy Eat World in the summer of 2002.
The Kut U Up guys are long-time friends of Blink 182's Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus, who managed to score Kut U Up a spot playing before the concert.
Whether they were rocking on a side stage with beer, or in the parking lot with a smoking P.A., Kut U Up took on the challenge. Though, Cote was wary. He believes his Blink 182 friends set this up "either to give us our big break or as some sort of weird social experiment."
Luckily, the band quickly found their niche on tour. They didn't let the fact that they usually had to play before a venue's doors even opened to keep them from all the backstage fun.
'Riding in Vans with Boys.' DVD. $19.98. Universal Music & VI. Rated PG-13. Available at Amazon.com.
The video shows drinking, partying and backstage antics, but not in the stereotypical manner. When it comes to sexual content, the extreme homoerotic tension on tour is exposed during a heated game of what Cote dubbed "gay chicken." In this game, Cote and Parkhurst sit cross-legged in their boxers in the back of the van. They then proceed to slide their hands up each others' inner thighs until one forces the other to desist. Add in a large amount of groping, simulations oral sex, a few kisses and you've got Pop Disaster male bonding.
The great thing about the DVD is that it's not about rock stars being clich and over-indulgent, and it doesn't over glamorize things.
The bands talk about how boring things get on tour and use that as an excuse for the Jackass-like stunts and idiotic bets we get to glimpse.
In one scene, the guys put a lawn chair on two skateboards and attempt to ride it down a grass hill. Later, some bird droppings fall into Parkhurst's drink. Mike Dirnt, Green Day bassist, cannot resist a good bet; $40 later Parkhurst is chugging the feces-laden beverage.
In watching, it is easy to tell these guys have never spent time around huge bands such as Green Day. Kut U Up boys behave like star-struck pre-teens after their first encounter with Armstrong and Dirnt. Cote is giddy and brags about having spoken with Armstrong.
Interestingly, later on in the tour Armstrong is seen smearing a salve on Cote's bum (to soothe the branding mark) and giving him a quick kiss.
However, Riding in Vans isn't just a collaboration of bored punk rock antics. There is an underlying theme of discovering yourself-more specifically, seeing Kut U Up find themselves as a band. Kut U Up learns an important and powerful lesson at a New York radio show where they have an opportunity to play for about 3,000 people.
Brendan Raasch, who plays drums, and Cote choose to ride on Blink's tour bus instead of traveling in the van with their own band. Cote and Raasch do not show up on time for the show, leaving the other band mates livid. As a result, Kut U Up is forced to forfeit the show because two members put partying on a bus before their own band.
Riding in Vans with Boys is an amusing and honest depiction of life on tour. Kut U Up allow viewers to live vicariously through the band because the members are just regular guys who have no record deal and still work in cubicles.
Reach the reporter at chelsea.ide@asu.edu.
