STAR announced Thursday that Phillip Phillips is scheduled to perform as STAR’s spring concert this year.

Phillips will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 11 on the John P. Monahan Plaza. STAR Large Events Intern Jimmy Froehling said the planning group wanted to use the Anderson Student Center and host what will be the first large concert ever held on the plaza. In case of rain, the concert will be held in Woulfe Alumni Hall inside the student center.

“With the new student center and the new plaza, we wanted to do something that’s really going to emphasize our new building, and also to give a different and new feel to our spring concerts,” Froehling said.

STAR will not be ticketing the concert because it is an outdoor event. Based on past STAR concerts, Froehling said the group is anticipating around 2,000 students will attend the concert.

“We don’t think there’s going to be any issues as of now,” Froehling said, “as far as overcrowding and things like that.”

Froehling said picking an artist for STAR concerts is a long process, and he feels that Phillips was a good choice.

“We thought that Phillip Phillips is popular because of ‘American Idol,’ and some of his new songs that are coming out,” Froehling said. “We thought it would be a really good fit for this campus, and we thought the student body would really enjoy it.”

Despite his popularity, STAR was able to book Phillips at a rate cheaper than artists at previous STAR concerts.

“Compared to other artists we have had in the past, he’s a lot less expensive. We were really lucky actually, because he’s getting so popular,” Froehling said. “We actually got him at a reasonable rate before his popularity started, so it’s very exciting for us that we could actually get him.”

STAR would not give the price of which they paid to have Phillips when asked.

Because it is the first large concert ever held outside the Anderson Student Center, Froehling said STAR has been working with many different people to figure out the sound and staging of the concert. He said one of the challenges of holding the concert outdoors is working with sound limits.

“It’s going to be more of an acoustic show because we do have some sound limits with the city of St. Paul, so we have to go by their regulations,” Froehling said.

Check back to TommieMedia.com later for more coverage of STAR’s concert.

Gabrielle Martinson can be reached at mart5649@stthomas.edu.