As the crowd slowly streamed in – most of them wearing freshly bought Ed Sheeran t-shirts and carrying programs in hand – clearly the crowd is enthusiastic and ready for a big night.
Bliss and Eso got the crowd warmed up with their hip hop music. With hands waving in the air and bodies jumping around, clearly, they weren’t disappointed with the opening act. Missy Higgins was a little lower key with her heartfelt ballads better suited to swaying than bouncing. She had the crowd mesmerised with her personal story’s put into music. She’s truly a very talented performer.
The lights dimmed and the arena turned blue – we all knew what was about to happen. The main act arrived, an understated, red-headed, young man wearing his iconic red flannel shirt, carrying nothing but his guitar. However, when I looked at him as a 54-year-old mother, the first thing I said to myself was “Hello future son-in-law.”
On a more serious note, I saw a charismatic, talented young man who only had to sing the first verse of ‘Castle On The Hill’ and he had 70,000 people singing along with him , all in the palm of his hand. It was truly awe-inspiring.
Sheeran sang songs from across his three albums, and even though it may not sound like a lot , the number of hits he has would make any artist envious. He also felt the need to explain he doesn’t lip sync as he has previously been accused of. But as for every talented artist when you’re exceptionally good there are always doubters. It was clear there weren’t any doubters amongst all the sheerios tonight.
Between songs, Sheeran made sure to engage the crowd with little stories, cracking jokes as if he was standing in the middle of a half-empty pub on a Saturday night, and not a packed Etihad Stadium. He recounted when he’d go to concerts and he was told to sing and dance, that he always felt awkward and like he was being watched. So he told the crowd to do whatever you like – sing, dance, get weird – because you’ll never see the person next to you again.
All he had to do was start singing ‘Don’t’ and sure enough the crowd shed any signs of awkwardness – even I was fist pumping and jumping up and down. I’m sure this would’ve been an interesting sight for onlookers, but as Ed said, don’t worry about others, just have a great time, which is what I did.
It was clear that hits like ‘Castle On The Hill’, ‘Perfect’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Thinking Out Loud’, and ‘Shape Of You’, were crowd favourites – each singalong threatened to lift the roof with its volume, waving arms, jumping around, and using their phone lights to paint the arena in a sea of tiny bulbs. 70,000 people singing along at the top of their voices is truly something that has to be experienced to be believed.
I was truly in awe of Sheeran’s talent, how can a man with only a guitar and a loop pedal –no fanfare, back-up dancers or backing musicians – have 70,000 people completely under his spell. The crowd was made up of young children to mature adults but everyone knew all his songs.
Highlight: Watching how Ed had 70,000 people in the palm of his hands
Lowlight: Would’ve love to have heard Ed sing ‘Supermarket Flowers’ – a truly beautiful song.
Crowd Favourite: ‘Photograph’ and ‘Perfect’.
