Over the last couple of years, Ed Sheeran has successfully become one of the best-selling artists of a generation. His songs resound with the youth of today in a way rarely seen from other artists. While he undoubtedly scored big with the “difficult” second album, you wouldn’t know it from listening. Some of the tunes on Ed’s first release were a little unpolished, and it’s good to see that he’s deciding to mix things up a little these days.
X is like a love story from start to finish, and that came across well during his recent live show in Birmingham UK. While the entire tour was designed to help promote the new album, he still made a point of knocking out a few old favourites. You can see that from the setlist published above. Having never seen Mr. Sheeran in concert before, we were more than happy to see that he didn’t employ the services of a backing group. Stood solo on stage, Ed managed to captivate fans with his velvet tones for the best part of three hours. A simple acoustic guitar and effects machine is all the required.
The first song “I’m a mess” set the tone from which the whole gig followed. While there were a number of upbeat tracks, most of them are slow and often haunting. That might be a little disappointing to some of his die hard fans who have come to expect upbeat and energetic numbers. Even so, the critics went wild, and so did the fans.
The only negative point we can make about the gig is that Ed seems to have used the worst piano imaginable. Where Markson Pianos tend to offer a quality tone, the one used on three of these songs sounds like it was ready for the scrapheap.
At a time when Lil Wayne is promoting his masculinity, Ed is more than willing to highlight his softer side. That was seen more as we moved through the gig. The recent single “Thinking Out Loud” set the crowd alight in a matter of seconds. People were singing to their hearts content, and some were even crying. It was by far the most heartfelt and emotional tune he played in Birmingham, and that is saying a lot.
For us, the best track was “Tenerife.” Not only was it written from an unusual perspective, but it also offered a bright and happy message for all those young listeners. In the past, Sheeran has been criticised for discussing drugs and prostitution. So, it is nice to see him promoting the positive elements of life.
Do we advise you to go out and purchase some Ed Sheeran tickets in 2015? Almost certainly! There are some manufactured artists around at the moment who are simply in the game to make money. At no point do we get that impression of Ed Sheeran. It is obvious for all to see that he makes music because he loves music. It’s that plain and simple.
What will the future hold for Mr. Sheeran and his famous acoustic guitar? Who can say? The only thing we know for certain is that he isn’t going anywhere in a hurry. We expect to see big things from this artist in 2015. So, keep your eyes peeled.
Sheeran performed:
- I’m a Mess
- Lego House
- Don’t / No Diggity
- Drunk
- Take It Back
- One
- Bloodstream
- Tenerife Sea
- Runaway / Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
- Afire Love
- Thinking Out Loud
- Give Me Love
- I See Fire