4 and a ½ stars
A
shabby, red-headed man. Eyesight as poor as can be, a cheery smile of that high
school geek beaming across massive screens headlining one end of Etihad
Stadium. And on stage stands the casual bloke, figurine-sized in comparison to
the 60,000 plus he performs to. Just a basic acoustic guitar, and some fancy
machinery around his feet that he controls with some type of dance throughout
the night. It doesn’t sound conducive to a record-breaking Australian stadium
tour, does it? Yet this humble singer-songwriter from Suffolk is set to prove
just why he is music’s brightest light.
 |
| Missy Higgins warming up the crowd |
Following
the contrasting hype of Bliss ‘N Eso and the melodious flow of local Missy
Higgins, the lights dimmed and the heaving warmth of the indoor venue was
broken open by Ed himself.
From
then on it was a journey – the thudding beat and passionate vocals of ‘Castle
On the Hill’ whipped the crowd into a frenzy, as their echo displayed the sheer
popularity of Sheeran’s U2 and Snow Patrol reminiscence.
 |
With
the sweating crowd fully concentrated on him, Sheeran then fell into a pattern;
a faster, heavily looped tune that elicited dancing, energetic sing-alongs and “wows”,
shortly followed by a simmering slower song that showcased the volume of the
eager people in attendance. It was an equilibrium – if second song ‘Eraser’
epitomised the variety of talent at Sheeran’s disposal (a catchy guitar riff
covered in RnB and dripping with rap), then ‘A Team’ incited swaying, a
beautiful phone light display and a soft moment that appeared to crack even the
hardest of hearts.
This
wove its way through the night, with the highlights being due to either the
severely breathtaking use of the loop station or the stripped back beauty of
Sheeran, his voice and his guitar. The former included the crescendo of ‘Bloodstream’,
and the similar conclusion that was used to build up the climax of ‘Photograph’,
while the latter included gentle symphonies in ‘Perfect’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’,
as well as the underrated ‘Tenerife Sea’ (the next night Sheeran was apt enough
to croon through ‘Supermarket Flowers’).
 |
| The set-up, pre-Sheeran |
But
the layer that surpassed Sheeran’s previous ‘X’ tour in 2015 was the instalment
of songs off his record-breaking 2017 album ‘Divide’. And the crux of this was
the pair of Irish-inspired mixtures that sent the crowd into jigs and reels all
over the Etihad turf. With the bright effects and sharply intense euphoria of ‘Galway
Girl’, a couple of songs later the rhythmic ballad ‘Nancy Mulligan’ once more
brought out the Gaelic side that stirs inside everyone. Combine this with an
unexpected yet perfectly placed cover of ‘Feeling Good’ that morphed into the
uber-cool ‘I See Fire’, and you could suddenly start to see why the crowd was
varied in age and gender. This is why Sheeran had shattered records; his
generic appearance had evolved into a canon that appealed to the soft and fun
side in every person. Not just the One Direction type of fan girls, but also
the ‘super dads’ that could easily have been seen at an ACDC concert. It was
fascinating.
 |
| Enthralling the crowd during 'Galway Girl' |
By
the time Sheeran had sent the crowd into raptures of joy, his energy-filled
rendition of ‘X’ hit ‘Sing’ resulted in only more singing, like everyone there
had found deep and impossible reserves of energy just for this one-man band. Yet
his encore of ‘Shape of You’ only inspired more dancing, more adults jumping up
in the seating aisles to match the groovy dancing of the standing area people.
When the night was concluded with the winding original hit of ‘You Need Me I
Don’t Need You’, the worth of each individual inside the Etihad sauna had
skyrocketed due to the strength, joy and power that was spread over the masses.
He
had done it – the goal to have everyone “drenched in sweat” and horse-voiced
proved successful, yet no one minded. For just two hours we had all been lost
in time, lost in the talent of a man who is shrewdly clever yet perhaps too
humble to realise his effect on people. And what more could you want from a
concert?
Comments
Post a Comment