When I sit down to write something, I usually try to have some kind of catchy opening paragraph to get things started. As a result, I very rarely cover concerts in sequential order. But this time, I’m actually going to start by talking about the opening act, because he was a big name (relative to many openers, anyway)-- James Blunt.
------
I wasn’t looking forward to sitting through James Blunt’s set, but it was actually really good. It’s a shame that his one true hit, “You’re Beautiful,” and his less-of-a-hit “Goodbye My Lover” are both such sappy garbage, because everything I heard at this show was better. The majority of his set came from his current album, The Afterlove, and I thought at the time that Blunt really isn’t that much different from David Gray. After previewing a few tracks on iTunes once I got home, I’ve decided that his up-tempo songs aren’t that far from Maroon 5.
------
Anyway, Blunt has a sense of humor about his lack of fame, remarking that he and the band were ‘going to play some songs you don’t know, then we’ll play the one you do.’ He closed his set with “1973,” though, which was also kind of a hit, so some of the crowd surely knew that one too.
------
After a short break to clear the stage, Ed Sheeran took the stage. For those who are unfamiliar, Sheeran is a true solo act-- it’s just him, his acoustic guitar, and his loop pedals. There are a lot of slow songs on the current album, Divide, and his ballads have done very well for him; but there’s a lot more to Sheeran than that.
-----
He seems to have the most fun when he can set a beat or a riff on a loop, sling the guitar under his shoulder, grab the mic, and bounce around the stage, spitting a quick verse like he does on “Don’t,” “Sing,” or “Shape of You.” My favorite song of his is probably still “Bloodstream,” and it’s a beast live. I don’t know if kids still pogo, but that’s the song for it. I wish it had gotten a proper single release in the U.S. I’m going to link to a video of a live version-- professionally filmed, so don’t worry about sound quality. The video, coincidentally, is from Rock in Rio in Vegas-- I was at that show too. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ca...
------
My seat was in the front row of the upper deck, on the side of the stage. It was nice to be high up enough and close enough to really watch him work the pedals. I’ve seen Sheeran live three times now, (besides seeing him on TV and owning his live DVD); and his act still blows my mind. He closed the show with “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” an eight-minute display of Sheeran’s talent-- blazing-fast rapping, backed by multiple beats, riffs, beatboxing, and machine gun blasts of plam-muted strumming-- all of it looped, stopped, and picked back up in perfect time with a tap of the pedals at his feet. It’s a tour-de-force, and it’s something to see. One more time, a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vg...
-------
I don’t have a fancy closing paragraph, just like I didn’t have a fancy opening paragraph. Sorry. This was a good show, as I knew it would be. Up next: The Weeknd, from September 27. I'll probably post that one on Friday or Saturday.
------
The set list:
Castle on the Hill
Eraser
The A Team
Don’t/New Man
Dive
Bloodstream
Happier
Galway Girl
Tenerife Sea
Hearts Don’t Break Around Here
Photograph
Perfect
Nancy Mulligan
Thinking Out Loud
Sing
(Encore)
Shape of You
You Need Me, I Don’t Need You