KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Nearly 2,500 UA fans cheer at CatFest on Saturday during a performance by GoldFinger at Centennial Hall. CatFest, an annual event sponsored in part by student government to welcome students to campus, attracted students to pack the venue after having met varied success in past years.

Security tames crowd for rushing stage, fan eats Twinkie from drummer's rear

Concert-goers rushed the stage and one crowd member ate a Twinkie that was sticking out from between a band member's buttocks cheeks at Friday night's CatFest, which packed Centennial Hall with 2,456 people who came out to see Goldfinger, Authority Zero and Eleventh Hour.

Security was originally tight at the concert. Guards in bright blue and yellow shirts prevented all but a select few with wristbands from standing in the pit area in front of the stage.

At one point John DeVore, the lead singer of punk rock band Authority Zero, jumped down to sing in the stands, but failed to get back up when a security guard, who apparently thought DeVore was a fan, grabbed him and threw him down, causing him to lose his microphone.

"I got a kick out of it," said DeVore, who eventually got back up and used a second microphone until the original made it back up. "The concert was great. The crowd was awesome and the small venue made it feel more personal."

But security seemed to give in after a plea from Goldfinger lead singer John Feldmann.

Immediately after Feldmann paused and went to the side amidst a huddle of guards, fans filled the pit area. From then on, several fans at a time were crowd surfing and jumping off the stage.

"That was the best part of the concert, when the fans rushed the stage," Feldmann said.

The pit instantly started moshing and wildly jumping up and down, which soon prompted a security guard to grab the microphone.

As Darrin Pfeiffer, GoldFinger's drummer, stood behind him, shaking his hips and sticking out his tongue with his hand behind his head, the guard demanded that some of the people in the pit go back to their seats.

The lights came on, but after Pfeiffer reminded the crowd that "we're all friends," Feldmann came back on and the show continued.

At one point in the show a fan in the front agreed to eat a Twinkie that was sticking out of Pfeiffer's anus. After Pfeiffer pulled down his Toronto Raptors shorts and another band member placed a Twinkie between the cheeks of his buttocks, the fan took a liberal bite before he dove off the stage.

At one point Goldfinger seemed to be done and walked off the stage, but the technicians didn't conceal the encore very well, as they adjusted the microphones and restocked the guitar picks.

Finally, the band came back on and played "99 Red Balloons" for their finale.

Authority Zero stayed to sign autographs until the last fans left.

The biggest lines, however, were for Goldfinger. The band members, looking exhausted after a lively show, signed autographs for more than 100 fans.

"It was awesome to see such good bands for free and the concert was great. I loved it," said pre-business freshman Sean Benedikt.

CatFest is an annual event UA student government, various other student organizations and outside sponsors put on to welcome students back to campus. The festival has met with varied success in the past few years.

All of the free tickets for the concert were gone by Thursday morning this year.

Headlining band Eve 6 cancelled shortly before CatFest last year when the band said lead singer Max Collins had developed a case of laryngitis. About 300 students turned out to watch other local bands.

Sister Hazel played UA in 2000, when more than 500 CatFest goers followed the band out of the rain and into the former Student Union Memorial Building.

Blink 182 and various local bands played CatFest in previous years.

Before the concert 60 clubs participated in a club fair on the memorial lawn.

"I thought there would be more clubs but the ones here were informative and not too pushy. The free stuff was great," said freshman Audrey Mitchell, a pre-health education major, who signed up for a pre-med mailing list and walked away with a T-shirt, stickers, and a poster from Zia Records.

Sponsors of CatFest provided for a large inflatable waterslide to cool off attendees.

"It was hot out, and I didn't have class, so I decided to get wet. It was the first time I'd had fun in three years," said Paul Meisburger, an engineering junior, "It's faster with your shirt off, and I tried to convince the girls, but they didn't listen."

Booth operators differed as to how successful the fair was. Most clubs were happy to inform those who did turn out, but some said attendance was low.

"We expected more people to come. More people should be involved and nobody knew about it. It was mostly passers-by," said Fronia Jones, an engineering sophomore, at the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Despite any misgivings about the club fair, however, the overall experience at CatFest was overwhelmingly positive.

"I'm really pleased with CatFest. It was a relief for me and a relief for everyone to see all our work pay off. We've wanted to see (CatFest) continue year to year since it was started seven years ago, and I'm pleased that we took the necessary steps," said Doug Hartz, student government president.