Sheeran is certainly in a challenging place in his career. Can he balance two barely compatible genres, sensitive songcraft and chart smashing pop? Elton John has probably been the most successful example of this, and Taylor Swift is currently giving it her best shot, but the jury is out on Sheeran’s pivot towards artistic seriousness. Do his simple songs of everyday anxieties have enough emotional charge to make up for the lack of sonic fizz?
Whilst Sheeeran usually performs completely solo, he had brought along a 16 piece ensemble, including strings, keyboards and two electric guitarists, to lend support. “The record is not exactly the cheeriest,” Sheeran admitted, but the material textures of his band brought surprising force to the performance. The rhythm section of live drums and bass, in particular, brought a fluid dynamic markedly different from Sheeran’s usual punchy backing loops, whilst six backing vocalists lent panoramic dimensions to his melodies. The fragile Midnight was delivered with the agitated oomph of a dancefloor banger.
After messing up the intro to The Day I Was Born, he decided to start again at a higher tempo, turning a fretful ballad about forgotten birthdays into a rousing anthem, with devoted fans lighting up the room by waving phones and singing as if they actually were at a party.
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