Walking up to The Roost in Slayter on January 26, 2012, one could hear the chatter of a little over 100 people and the dull sound of an instrumental track playing over the speakers. As it got closer to 9 o’clock the anticipation was rising and as the first student caught a glimpse of Phillips taking the stage everyone began to scream with excitement. Phillips started off the set with songs from his album The World from the Side of the Moon, performed a cover of Nice & Slow original by Usher and closed (we thought) with his hit song, Home. Phillips was accompanied by a cello player as well as another guitarist whom he thanked periodically throughout the show.
He cracked a couple of jokes, and told the crowd that he had tried to go sledding on the hill. To his disappointment, he was stopped by security. He then proceeded to advise us that we should all just get naked and go sledding after the show. Obviously, no one opposed to this, but sadly I don’t believe it actually happened. If anyone out there did.. please fill us in! Pictures optional.
After his performance of Home, Phillips gathered us his guitar and left the stage. After a few minutes of “One more song! One more song!” from the crowd, Phillips re-appeared and put on his own rendition of Lil Wayne’s Lollipop, Eminem’s Lose Yourself and DJ Khaled’s All I Do Is Win to finish up and leave the crowd contented.
When asking people what their favorite part of the show was, Grace Danis and Brian Miller said that his acoustic covers were the best part. Danis also said, “The show was really chill. There were lots of people there and they were really enjoying themselves and they genuinely wanted to hear Phillips play.” Nick Bortolani said his favorite part was when “Phillips offered to go sledding naked,” and Justin Demarchi’s favorite part was “Phillips original song Where We Came From.”
After the show, a few friends and I acquired Phillips’ set list from the stage crew in charge of the sound booth in hopes of getting it signed. The man informed us that Phillips’ van was in the basement of Slayter and that if we really wanted to meet him to venture on down there and wait for him. For about 45 minutes we sat in the cold basement. As soon as I saw Phillips walk through the door and go out to his van, I froze. My first encounter left me star struck. My mouth went dry, I opened it, but not a word came out. There went my change with heart throb Phillip Phillips.. maybe next time.
Born and raised in Albany, Georgia, Phillip Phillips was blessed with a sultry voice and swoon-worthy southern accent capable of melting the heart of girls everywhere. On May 23, 2012 he captured the hearts and votes of millions and won American Idol even after undergoing several surgeries and health complications throughout the entirety of the competition. Shortly after the American Idol finale, he went on the American Idol LIVE tour. Phillip Phillips currently has an album titled The World from the Side of the Moon, which as of January 2013 went Gold.