The SOUP Big Event this year will feature singer-songwriter Ben Kweller, who will perform at Lawrence May 14.
Lawrence’s Student Organization for University Programming made the announcement at Tuesday’s Mardi Gras celebration, after having kept the identity of the performer a secret for several weeks.
Kweller will bring an opening act with him, but has not specified who it will be. He also asked SOUP to provide another soloist or duo to open for him. For this, SOUP approached Lawrence students Paul Salomon and Patrick Ehlers.
The two have performed together for years, Salomon on piano and vocals, Ehlers on bass. Both are fans of Kweller and are excited to be a part of the show.
Ehlers said that if Kweller doesn’t bring his band, he and Salomon “want to learn as many of his songs as we can and offer to give him some backups.”
SOUP member Eric Armour said that tickets for the concert were originally supposed to go on sale March 8, but there may be a slight delay. Armour added that there will soon be postings around campus to inform students of the exact date.