The Kerfuffle Shuffle

Last Friday Jason and I went to a concert at the U of U, known as The Grand Kerfuffle, with my brother Andrew and his fiancé Simone. What is a kerfuffle you ask? The answer: I have absolutely no idea. I think it must be something akin to a shindig. Whatever it is, the U’s event is not just your average kerfuffle-it’s a GRAND kerfuffle. So all you schools that put on common kerfuffles-take that!

Although I’m still not entirely sure what exactly a kerfuffle is, this I do know, The Grand Kerfuffle is an outdoor concert thrown every year for the student body. It used to be an entirely free event and now students pay just five dollars to attend. Since my bro and Simone are both students at the U, they were able to get $5 tickets for me and Jason. The bands performing this year were Augustana, Hellogoodbye, and Shiny Toy Guns. Since I like all three of these bands, there was no way I could pass on $5 tickets to see them.

The weather on Friday was supposed to be warm and springish, unlike the other days last week that it snowed and felt like February again. But alas, the weathermen were slightly off on their prediction of when the warm front would move in, and Friday didn’t feel anything like mid-April. So I wore my boarding coat on top of another coat, and a beanie to this concert. Drew somehow forgot that it was freezing outside and didn’t bring anything but a hoodie. He had to borrow every extra warm thing we had brought. Common sense is not a strong trait in my family.

We had a lot of fun at the concert, despite a couple peculiarities. Yes, some things were peculiar. First of all, the crowd was very cheering deficient. Seriously people, do you not know how to clap? I felt like I was one of the loudest people there. Even when they were obviously enjoying themselves, their cheering was rather pathetic.It was a strange phenomenon.

Another thing that I thought was somewhat obnoxious was the couples making out roughly a foot away from us. Okay people, we realize you are anxious to get some action, but at least go to the back were you aren’t so conspicuous. Is that really so much to ask? If I had wanted that kind of show I would have just stayed at home. College students…was I ever that dumb?

But yes, regardless of these oddities, I had a great time. We didn’t make it in time to see Augustana, unfortunately, but we did see most of Hellogoodbye’s performance. The crowd was obviously not terribly familiar with their music and didn’t really get too into it, until they played their one hit, All of Your Love.

The crowd reacted much differently to Shiny Toy Guns. Their applause was still lacking, but they were definitely energized and grooving with the music. The masses were jumping, moshing, and crowd surfing. I took the opportunity to jump too, even with my temperamental tendon. Simone, I discovered, is a woman after my own heart. She and I bounced around and rocked until our legs felt like jelly. I can’t say the same for the boys. Though, with some strong encouragement, I actually did get Jason to jump with me a little. He looked a bit like the guys from A Night at the Roxbury, but I was glad to see him do something beside just stand there.

All the bouncing paid off for me and Simone. We stayed nice and warm while the boys froze. Those boys…

I still had a great time even with Mr. Lethargic. It was a fun, energetic, and cheap concert. So thanks Drew and Simone for inviting us to tag along, and thanks Simone for shaking it with me. There was a whole lot of kerfuffling going on!

P.S. It has come to my attention that kerfuffle means a disorderly outburst or tumult. We learn something new everyday.