Ed Sheeran Concert

Last night I was lucky enough to see Ed Sheeran in concert on his ‘X’ tour at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York! Although the skies were grey and it was pouring rain outside, once I stepped into Barclays Center nothing else mattered. To say I was excited would be an understatement due to the fact that (1) this was my first concert ever, and (2) I am a huge Ed Sheeran fan. Needless to say when Ed first appeared on stage my mental dialogue was a continuous string of  “OMG that’s Ed Sheeran. He’s right there, he’s so close I can see him!” In between fan-girling I managed to snap a few pictures.

The second Ed walked on stage the crowd went wild screaming. He started the concert not by talking, but singing right away, starting with “I’m a Mess.” There was no band, no back up singers, only a guitar and a loop pedal station as stage companions. The graphics that played on the big screen behind him were as beautiful as Ed’s song lyrics, all tailored to the theme of the song he was playing at the time. Ed’s projection on the big screen was either transformed into colorful comic art or creatively broken up on various smaller screens like a puzzle.

In addition, the beams of light that spread out into the audience changed with each song, with a transfixing turquoise for “Tenerife Sea,” a deep red for “Bloodstream,” and a captivating purple for “Thinking Out Loud.” During the performance of “Thinking Out Loud” the music video of Ed dancing played in the background.

Watching the lights from people phones being held up in the dark arena like stars in the sky and the sounds of people singing along louder then Ed himself was one of the most surreal moments and a memory I will never forget.

What I loved about seeing Ed perform live was witnessing the life and passion he brings to each song. While he played songs from the albums, there were parts that were completely different, such as when he did a mash-up of “Don’t” with a cover of Chris Brown, Tyga and Lil Wayne’s “Loyal” and Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” It should also be noted that although Ed is classified as a singer/songwriter, he is also an amazing rapper. I was in awe of his rapping skills that were showcased during “Take It Back.” Other songs I was that I was most excited to hear live were “Photograph,” “One,” “Nina,” “A Team,” and “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.”

To end this post and my ramblings about the concert I’d like to leave you all with a few lyrics from Ed Sheeran’s songs that I hold close to my heart and I think summarize the night quite nicely:

“We keep this love in a photograph

We made these memories for ourselves

Where our eyes are never closing

Hearts are never broken

Times forever frozen still" - “Photograph”

“And we’re wrapped in light and life and love” - “Afire love”

“‘Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it’s evergreen” - “Thinking Out Loud”

~ M ~