No Band or Flashy Dancers, Ed Sheeran & His Guitar Packs Mt Smart Stadium!

Ed Sheeran, Mt Smart Stadium March 24 2018

Ed Sheeran’s NZ Divide Tour – a fine reminder that just because Sheeran makes doing what he does look easy, it doesn’t, not even for a second, mean that it is.

The ginger ninja’s return to the country was just as impressive as it was heartfelt.

Doing their best to make the wet weather bearable, Wellington musician Ali Whitton’s (who used to play music with Sheeran back in the day) musical duo LOST BiRD opened the show with a warm folky embrace.

Then, ensuring the audience’s vocals were well and truly limbered up to sing the night away, Ben O’Leary, Shaan Singh, Matt Beachen and Sam Thomson from the Drax Project charmed the crowd with originals like Woke Up Late as well as their catchy take on Ginuwine’s Pon’, an enchanting rendition of Disclosure and Sam Smith’s Latch and my personal fave, an Addam’s family-esque version of Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River that showed off lead singer O’Leary’s singing prowess and stamina — few can make singing and sax-ing look as easy as this boy.

Promptly hitting the stage alone at 8.45pm, perhaps what was most endearing was the bashful grin on Sheeran’s face as he casually walked out to a cacophony of cheers, picked up his guitar and simply began playing — this, refreshingly, was not the mark of a jaded dancing monkey. Wasting no time, he had the crowd eating out the palm of his hand, “driving at ninety down those country lanes; singing to Tiny Dancer” with Castle on the Hill.

Chatting affably to the crowd, Sheeran explained that after playing Glastonbury, his biggest criticism was that he lip synced to pre-recorded tracks. And so, in response and to prove a point, the evening’s festivities / Divide tour would spotlight his humble beginnings — him and his trusty looper pedal. The live bits (whether taking the form of vocals, beats or strums) would be deleted each night so the same magic could take place all over again at his next gig. To show us what he meant, Ed treated the audience to Erase —  a fine reminder that just because he makes doing what he does look easy, it doesn’t, not even for a second, mean that it is.

Aptly, as the drizzle turned heavy, Sheeran sang about a “dry house, wet clothes; loose change, bank notes” with a hauntingly good rendition of A Team made all the more spellbinding by the whole stadium swaying romantically in a sea of twinkling phones.

Soon, it was time to pick up the pace. Championing the need to “let loose and leave with our voices gone” as well as highlight the 2% in the crowd made up of boyfriends that were dragged there this evening and superdads chaperoning so their kids could have a good time, we took a trip down memory lane to Multiply’s Don’t/New Man before speeding back to Divide’s Dive — both songs offering ample opportunities for a “hip wiggle” or three.

Next up, set against a ‘crimson’ backdrop, was a hit the crowd was clearly jonesing for — Bloodstream. All-consuming and impossible not to clap along too, this one boasted an explosive end that seemed to sweep you away and leave you sighing satisfyingly of relief.

Shifting into softer more heartfelt territory, we moved into the heartstring tugger from Sheeran’s latest album — Happier. It was at this juncture that Sheeran sweetly took a second to thank his talented opening performers before enticing the audience to clap along and “sweetly surrender” to I’m a Mess and How Would You Feel.

Offering the perfect excuse to give our dancing shoes a whirl, we made like we could “play a fiddle in an Irish band…” with the much anticipated Galway Girl before Sheeran whisked us off on a beguiling journey with Feeling Good / I See Fire — an unforgettable mashup that will, without a doubt in my mind, become a favourite for many.

Evidently, no Sheeran fan would be sent home without the reminder that “loving can hurt sometimes” courtesy of Photograph before Sheeran pandered to the loved up couples in the audience, giving them the Perfect excuse to stare dreamily into each other’s eyes. Do we need Beyonce or Andrea Bocelli anymore? Sheeran was undeniably (and maybe a touch surprisingly) more than enough — as he’s always been.

Prompting a gleeful little Irish jig in general admission, Nancy Mulligan was an interesting touch to the set list. Then it was time for a spot of Thinking Out Loud… and since we were already bopping along, it would be a waste not to Sing. Nope, at this point, no amount of rain could dampen the spirits or voices of the evening’s Ed Sheeran fan club.

Closing the night with a bang, Sheeran’s live rendition of Shape of You was out of this world, getting poncho-ed punters out of their chairs and cutting shapes, before ending with a truly worthy encore of You Need Me, I Don’t Need You that masterfully showed what Ed Sheeran and his looper pedal do best all on their own. Oh yes, just because he makes it look effortless, in no way should this endearingly awkward Suffolk boy and his mean skills ever be underestimated.

Deborah Raj

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