In the summer of 2011 I discovered a singer called Ed Sheeran on youtube. For months he was all I listened to. I was in love with the melodic choruses of Little Bird and Sofa. I told all my friends about a ginger guy who played guitar and wrote songs that made my heart want to weep. 14 year old Angela was well and truly in love. As time went by this mildly popular guitar player grew more and more famous and throughout this time I felt a sense of pride for my favourite singer who had worked his way into major stardom. Then after 2 tours I wasn't able to attend I finally got the chance to see Ed Sheeran live in concert. I'm lucky to have amazing friends and one of them bought herself, a friend and I a ticket to this gig (THANKS BREEGE I WILL NEVER EVER BE ABLE TO THANK YOU ENOUGH). After three years I am now able to say I saw Ed Sheeran perform live and it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to.
A singer called Saint Raymond was Eds' support act and I had listened to his music prior to the concert and loved him. Listening to him live made me fall even more in love with him and I'll definitely be trying to see him live again. The 19 year old from Nottingham was joined on stage by two (v v v attractive, black skinny jean wearing) bass players. Saint Raymond himself plays and let me tell you the sound of all three guitars was nothing short of immense. His set was 8 songs long and lasted about 40 minutes and left me wishing he would play even more. His music reminded me hugely of a Kodaline / The 1975 / Two Door Cinema hybrid. I'm a sucker for a good bass guitar and his music provides that and so much more.
Ed came on stage nonchalantly and I almost wasn't aware he'd made his way on stage until the screaming began. As Ed began to play I'm a Mess I stood in shock at what was before me. I will never be able to explain how much I love Ed's music and for me to be able to see him in real life, playing some of my favourite music of all time was more than my little heart could take and I simply stood there in awe as he performed. What struck me most throughout the concert was the simplicity of Eds stage design. No big fireworks or dance routines. No back up singers or drummers. Just one man, a guitar, a loop pedal and several led lights. He sang songs from both Multiply and Plus and had the whole audience singing in perfect time. Slow songs such as One and Tenerife Sea forced everyone to sway and I found myself quietly mouthing along to the words as the music washed over me. He also wowed with his rapping skills with the songs Bloodstream and Take it Back.
The moment when I realised the true enormity of what this concert meant to me was when Ed played the first notes of Little Bird. This was the first song I had ever heard by Ed and this song instantly brought me back to three years earlier when I was on youtube on a broken iPod touch listening and listening to the lyrics "Strawberries taste how lips do" and being wowed at the intelligence of 5 words. I'm the first to admit I cried during this song and never in my life have I been so emotional at a concert (this includes the time at Kodaline when I started crying at All I Want which don't even get me started is one of the best songs ever written).
Then came the surprise. Ed brought Nathan Connolly of Snow Patrol on stage and together they performed Chasing Cars. The whole audience was completely engrossed in what was happening and the whole arena turned into a sea of white lights as people swayed along to the music. This was one of the best moments of my life as I realised what an incredible performer Ed really was. He had an entire arena of 11,000 people captivated by two men on stage. Give Me Love was another magical moment as he turned the entire place into a gospel choir all chanting MY MY in harmony.
As his encore Ed sang his famous A- Team, I See Fire and Sing. For his finale he left the whole arena singing the melody of Sing even after he'd left the stage and I would have given everything to just hear him play one more song. I was slightly disappointed that he didn't sing any of my absolute favourites from his albums (ahem Photographs, Kiss Me and Shirtsleeves) but what he did perform more than made up for their absence. A part of me always thought that because I had loved him for so long my expectations were too high but he surpassed them by miles. This was honestly one of the best concerts I have ever been to and this man deserves endless praise not only for his sheer(an lololollolololol) talent but also his amazing personality. I loved how he would take us through the meaning of certain songs espc Little Bird because of its resonance to me. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this concert was and if you ever get the chance to see this man perform JUST GO WITHOUT QUESTION IT WILL BE THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE.
I apologise for my awful photography skills as I always prefer not to video or to capture too many photos as I'd rather just enjoy the show but these were some of what I did capture,
I'd like to say a special OH MY GOD THANK YOU to my friend Breege even though I 've already mentioned her. LITERALLY BREEGE I WILL NEVER EVER BE ABLE TO REPAY YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH WOWOWOWOWOW.
Also thanks to my friend Sionainn who went aswell who I discovered is just as much of a fangirl as me so yayayayya hhiiiiiiiiiiiiii Sionainn! :D
Thats everything from me for now but be sure to keep checking back for updates! :)
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