REVIEW: Ed Sheeran, James Blunt @ TD Garden 09/22

The anticipation for Ed Sheeran at TD Garden Friday night was palpable throughout the arena as the crowd shuffled in during James Blunt’s opening set. That excited tension ended at roughly 8:40pm when the lights went out and Sheeran casually walked on stage and began singing “Castle on the Hill” as the crowd erupted into screams and applause. Behind him was a vivid and bright autumn scene, displayed uniquely on a row of tall and narrow LED screens which surrounded his one-man setup on the center of the stage.

After he finished the first song, Sheeran began a charming and enthusiastic banter with the audience, encouraging us to sing every word to every song and to dance our hearts out because “nobody is looking at [us] anyway.” The other songs that made up the show’s first half included the edgier “Eraser,” a quick but necessary rendition of his first mega-hit “The A Team”, a dope mashup of “Don’t” and “New Man” (both of which are F U songs to ex-loves) and “Dive,” an upbeat love-ballad that allowed Sheeran to show off his silky-smooth riffing abilities.

One of the most memorable performances of the night was “Bloodstream,” a dark and intense song about wanting to escape suffering through drugs and alcohol. The screen art behind him for this one was truly hypnotizing, depicting red fire-like images that got more intense as Sheeran wrapped it up by aggressively strumming his guitar. It made for an emotional climax and abrupt finish. The end of the song was accompanied by smoke and ashes on the screens to signify that the “fire” burned out.

Sheeran followed “Bloodstream” with two more relaxed, romantic songs, “Happier” and “Tenerife Sea.” “Happier” is a heartfelt homage to moving on from a relationship in which he soulfully delivers his perfectly-pitched high notes. “Tenerife Sea” is a slow love-ballad from the pop star’s second album; for this song, he executed beautiful use of the loop pedal by harmonizing with himself for the tender bridge.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated songs of the night, “Galway Girl” brought the fun and energetic atmosphere back to the arena, as the screens and lights lit up the place and everybody danced and sang along. Before beginning “Galway Girl,” Sheeran pointed out that he was particularly excited to play this song, along with his other Celtic-influenced number, “Nancy Mulligan,” in Boston because of the large Irish population in the city. Both were received with enormous cheers.

For his next song, Sheeran brought out his tour carpenter, PJ Smith, on stage to play piano for “How Would You Feel.” Sheeran expressed that although he can play piano, he doesn’t believe himself to be good enough to play it live in front of an audience. When he found out PJ could play piano really well, he practically begged him to play in his show. They both played the song excellently and afterwards the crowd cheered PJ’s name until he came back onstage for a wave and a hug with Sheeran.

“Photograph” was next on the setlist, and was warmly welcomed by the crowd despite its excessive radio presence last year. After “Photograph” came “Perfect,” a song which Sheeran expressed was very special to him. It was written for his grandmother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time, and has since deceased. He and his brother, a classical music composer, teamed up to create the song as a gift to her. Sheeran didn’t use the loop pedal for this one, but played it raw with just acoustic guitar and an earnest delivery of the lyrics that was truly moving.

Sheeran ended the main set with the absolute jam “Thinking Out Loud,” for which he brought out an electric guitar, also used in the studio version, and kept the crowd singing along to “Sing” before running off the stage. The crowd continued to scream and make noise until Ed returned wearing a Bruins jersey for the encore.

An exciting light show began for Sheeran’s performance of  “Shape of You” to re-excite the crowd, and prepare us for his fierce performance of “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”, reminding us how far he has come since his first album. He ended with a bang, giving the performance all of his energy, and really involving the crowd. He made the song last by including some intense instrumentals with a lot of guitar and vocal layering on the loop pedal.

Ed Sheeran’s unique musical approach, which leaves him solo on stage with just his mic, guitar, and a loop pedal, really separates him from his fellow pop stars. The loop pedal allows him to record and layer his own voice or guitar, and eliminates the need for an accompanying band. Not to mention his efficiency; after each number a different guitar (pre-tuned) would be brought out to him to save from having to tune them in between songs. He bangs on the face of his guitar to create a drum-like beat, adding a bass sound which creates the excitement and noise which is to be expected from a stadium performance. Sheeran’s singular musical and lyrical talents, combined with his rare ability to perform on stage completely unaccompanied, are what makes him one of today’s most entertaining music artists.

-Hannah Rogers