The orchestra strikes back July 11, when Star Wars: In Concert takes place in a venue not too far away -- Xcel Center

in St. Paul. OK, now that the lame Star Wars references are over -- at least I didn't write something about using the Force (oh, dang) -- this looks to be a cool event for the generations of fans who have grown up on George Lucas' popular films.

Picture this: A full orchestra and choir performing John Williams' iconic symphonic scores while newly edited scenes from all six films play on a gigantic high-def screen, accompanied by live narration from the voice of C-3PO, Anthony Daniels. Sweet! Before and after the show, fans can check out costumes, props and more from the original films, some of which are being displayed outside of Lucas' Skywalker Ranch for the first time. And the musicians and other performers are traveling with the show as part of the tour, so you don't have to worry about an ensemble of pickup players learning the music in one day for the shows.

Now, you might be thinking: "Big deal. This will be just a bunch of geeks sitting around listening to Star Wars music." But Star Wars: In Concert was actually ranked as the ninth-biggest tour in 2009 by Pollstar magazine. True, that doesn't necessarily negate what you might be thinking, but it does show that it's a big deal to many people.

Tickets, which run $24.50-$75, go on sale Saturday at noon through Ticketmaster for two shows, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on July 11 at Xcel. But you can get selected seats through a presale through 10 p.m. Friday by going to the page for each show and typing the password WILD in the Internet Presale field.

What do you think? Are you planning to check out Lucas' latest Star Wars endeavor when it hits the Twin Cities?