Back in mid-April, I remember seeing a lot of tweets from Alt Buffalo and their DJs filled with the hastag #Kerfuffle. Twitter had a minor buzz storm on its hands. To the surprise of some, Kerfuffle turned out to be a one day festival curated by the radio station. And as of yesterday, the damn thing was sold out. It’s not easy to sell out Canalside. That’s a big space. But when you have a hand full of alt-rock buzz acts, coupled with the strong following that Alt Buffalo has built in its first year, I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked.
The first annual (I would assume) Kerfuffle bill is highlighted by acts like Cage the Elephant, Bear Hands, and Bleachers. If you are reading this post and have a ticket, I take it you know these acts. Bear Hands, though, is an act that has been on our radar for a while now. The Brooklyn four-piece most recently came through town as a part of Alt Buffalo’s on going “You Heard It Hear First” series at the Waiting Room. Between the sold out showcase and the recent success of their latest single “Giants,” the quartet is bound to capture the Buffalo audience much like how they gained their start from Brooklyn’s DIY scene. Fans of Beach Fossils, SW/MM/NG, and Holiday Shores should remove themselves from the beer tents and make your way to the stage during their sure to be energetic set.
In addition, as we so often try to do on this blog, we like to point out that there is some local talent on the Kerfuffle bill, highlighted by Big Data. The electro two-piece is fronted by 585-native Daniel Armbruster. Armbruster is also the lead singer of Rochester’s JOYWAVE, a band that last year played our buffaBLOG birthday party and is now opening for the Killers. Funny how a year can change things. Between the sudden success of Joywave, and Big Data blowing up (Is there a commercial that “Dangerous” is not on right now?), Armbruster is having some year, and what better way to keep his hot run alive than to be featured on a sold out music festival in front of thousands of fellow, WNY natives.
As I said before, tickets just sold out, but if you grabbed a ticket ahead of time, gates will open up at 2:30pm today, with music starting around 3pm. For those without a ticket, you could loiter on the other side of the barrier and still hear pretty well.