Issue date: 4/19/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Maegan Burr Workers from Oasis Stage Werks assemble the largest stage ever set up in the Union Free Speech Area for the Grand Kerfuffle, which starts Thursday. The stage will take two days to build, said John Lopez, the foreman of the project.

Media Credit: Valerie Jar

Workers are constructing the largest stage ever built in the Union Free Speech Area for the three-day music festival, The Grand Kerfuffle.

The festival will feature the Von Bondies, Yellowcard and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who will play Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively.

More than 93 percent of tickets to Friday's Yellowcard concert have been sold, and they are expected to sell out today, said Jen Jankowski, Union front desk worker and ticket salesperson. Both Thursday and Saturday shows have sold 65 percent.

Students may receive two free tickets to each concert with their UCard and can pick them up at the Union front desk.

The bands will play on the stage facing east at the outdoor venue built to hold 8,000 people. The stage is 60 feet wide, 40 feet deep and has six 35-foot-tall towers that hold lights and tarps and will function as a roof.

"This is the largest (stage) ever put on the property and the largest production the student government has put on in the Union Free Speech Area," said John Lopez, production manager for Oasis Stage Werks.

The stage features a lighting system that includes both the standard conventional and robotic lighting that will automatically move to the sounds created by the musicians.

The crew started construction at 11 a.m. Tuesday and had finished 80 percent of the stage and its roof by 8 p.m. Today, the crew will install lighting, finish the stage, set up generators, run power to the stage and build a security fence around the perimeter.

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