I entered the Hollywood Bowl with wide-eyed anticipation, privileged enough to attend my first Edward Christopher Sheeran concert with one of my best friends.
Upon buying my ticket to see Ed’s “Multiply” tour, I knew that this stereotype-breaking, soul-filled ginger would cause me to scream and possibly cry—I dreamed of being in the presence of my favorite singer for years. However, one could never expect just how emotionally invigorating this experience would be, and I will attempt to convey my feelings to you in an alliterative roller coaster of emotions.
1. Total-Body Tremors
As Ed walked onto the dark stage and instantly began playing “I’m a Mess,” I screamed and began to tremble. It was nowhere near the One-Direction-induced, high school fangirl-ing trembling that I experienced when I was sixteen (no shame in admitting it). No, this was sheer (no pun intended) disbelief that I got to be in the presence of someone so talented, and these incandescent sounds were not just coming from my broken headphones but from all around me at this beautiful Los Angeles location.
2. Motionless Mouth-Gaping
For a moment (ok...many, many moments throughout the evening) I couldn’t believe that I was in the presence of such a talented human being. Ed addressed a recent complaint presented by a couple from Winnipeg about the authenticity of his performance the prior night. He said they felt cheated because they believed he was hiding a band behind the stage and that he was singing on top of them. However, it was only Ed, his guitars that were constantly switched, and his loop station. “Let me just set this up,” Ed explained as he created a magical musical set up of guitar strumming, drumming, and vocals before continuing his story for the audience. Casual, Ed. Real Casual.
3. Joyous Jumping
Not only does Ed produce songs that make you swoon (more details on those feels below), but he also possesses the ability to control a crowd with the improvised creation of verses in his songs. Despite his claims of “not being a rapper, just a singer with the flow,” he is a musically masterful B.A. That spontaneous “runnin through the six with my woes” ode to Drake within the ten minute encore of “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” couldn’t have been created by any plain old singer.
4. Satisfied Swooning
In describing the aforementioned “feels,” all I can say is "swoon". Four-part harmonizing with himself, Ed Sheeran made hearts flutter with his blue underwater-esque setting of “Tenerife Sea” and his thoughtful strumming of the most famous wedding song of the year and his romantic dancing music video in the background…I hope you know I’m referring to “Thinking Out Loud.” All I could do was just sing along, close my eyes, and sway in satisfaction.
It takes a lot of talent for someone to sound as good as their album these days. However, Ed consistently set a high bar with every song he sang, adding soul and riffs and heart-clenching “oohs” to each word.
As the sun set and the lights dimmed on the white shell, the roar of thousands of fans crashed in a wave of praise for a dearly beloved red-headed singer. Ed’s music brings a heterogeneous mixture of people together—couples on picturesque dates, mothers treating themselves to a night out, screaming teenage girls and their loving fathers who complied with escorting them, (still recovering from the ear-piercing screams of previous One Direction and 5SOS concerts and not yet realizing the amazing performance ahead of them) and groups of friends enjoying the night with a bit of beer and wine—all gathered on a Thursday night to hear the sweet symphony of sound stemming from one talented man’s mouth.
Their gathering was not in vain as Ed delivered an outstanding performance. My only complaint is that he didn’t sing every song he ever wrote. For those recovering from the desire to hear more Ed, cling on to the fact that he will be back to sing again soon.
