Whatever you think of the biggest current popstar in the world right now, you can’t deny he’s a brilliant performer.
One man layering up
every song. One man alone on the O2 stage. One man with 20,000 people in the
palm of his hand.
Sheeran isn’t the first artist to
use a loop pedal, but he’s certainly popularised it. His first London gig was
back in 2008 – 9 years later and little has changed besides some new songs,
some fancy screens, and a much…much bigger audience.
He casually saunters on to the
stage and immediately launches into Castle
On The Hill. There’s no pre-amble. There’s no band, no dancers. The screens
light up behind him but otherwise this is a refreshingly simple performance.
Where most artists strive to serve production value with extravagant staging
and effects, Sheeran just stands on the stage and sings, remaining authentic to
his roots and displaying confidence in his abilities. It does make you wonder
where the ticket price is going though.
The emphasis is on the music – for
better or worse. Audiences may be divided over Sheeran, but recent songs like Shape Of You and Galway Girl have had unrivalled success. Here, in front of a live
audience, it’s easy to see why: each song carefully layered up through beats,
chords and vocal harmonies building anticipation, their infectious melodies
washing over the audience like a tsunami, Sheeran clearly enjoying himself
onstage. The Irish number however was sorely missing its characteristic fiddles.
Other highlights included a clever
blend of Don’t and New Man – even if this served to
highlight the similarities between the two songs – and extended closer U Need Me, I Don’t Need You where the
guitar was eventually discarded and Sheeran leaped towards the audience to rap
over his own loops (“they say I’m up and coming like I’m fucking in an elevator”
– still an awful/amazing lyric). I See
Fire (a.k.a “The Hobbit Song”) was also extended as it morphed from a
rendition of Nina Simone’s Feelin’ Good,
providing a hushed and evocative centrepiece to the night.
It’s with the ballads that Sheeran
gets generic and too many in the middle of the setlist cause the evening to
sag. The influences are clear to see, from Marvin Gaye to Adele and Sam Smith,
Sheeran revelling in soppy love songs for the older crowd and losing any sense
of cool from his uptempo rap numbers. The collective sighs from the audience,
however, suggest that he’s beyond being cool – to them he’s a superstar.
Indeed, an Ed Sheeran gig is a
fascinating experience. Without the whizz-bang of a full band and production
effects, the audience’s singing and whooping is clear to hear. Sheeran himself
noted how loud everyone was, how they knew every lyric – all 20,000 of them,
and that’s just one of three nights. His recent phenomenal success has
been detailed with plenty of record breaking statistics, but attending his gig you see all those
Spotify listeners personified, mesmerised by his talent. It’s quite the sight –
and sound – to behold.
4/5
