For the 10th anniversary reissue of their landmark album, ‘Something to Write Home About,’ the Get Up Kids compiled years of archival footage for a bonus DVD. Among the many highlights is a scene where the Kansas City punks took part in the time-honored rock tradition of smashing their equipment to bits. “That was the last date of the 2001 tour we did opening for Weezer,” frontman Matt Pryor tells Spinner. “We just smashed all of our s—-. It seemed like a fun thing to do at the time.”
The decimation of the instruments wasn’t as wanton as it might seem. “Oh, it was totally planned, like ‘Top that, bitch!’” says Pryor. “It was very Jerry Lee Lewis of us.” Surprisingly, the stunt got no reaction from Rivers Cuomo and his bandmates. In fact, Weezer never reacted to anything the Get Up Kids did. “They never said anything to us for that entire tour,” Pryor recalls. “They’re the only band I’ve toured with for a month that I’ve never spoken to. They’re jackasses.”
