On January 28th 2013, Ed Sheeran made his Pittsburgh debut at Stage AE. Performing to a sold-out crowd of 2,400 screaming fans who knew every word of each song, She
eran put on a beautifully intimate show that coincided with the release of his first U.S. single, “The A-Team”. Using a loop station, Sheeran (who doesn’t perform with a band) was able to build up tracks piece by piece using guitar slaps, riffs, and even throwing in some beatboxing and background vocals. (Check out this process in the video below.) Keeping things simple, the soulful crooner was even able to get the crowd to stay quiet enough for him to sing part of “Wayfaring Stranger” without a microphone. After the show, fans who were in the know waited for an hour or so near the tour bus entrance and were able to meet and get autographs from Sheeran.
Flash forward to July of that same year. Following their collaboration on her fourth album, Sheeran toured as the opening act for real life best friend, Taylor Swift during her Red T
our which made a stop at Heinz Field. Donning a custom Steelers jersey and his signature red hair, Sheeran managed to grab the attention of a very energetic crowd and even joined Swift on stage for a performance of their song “Everything Has Changed” later in the show.
Now, two years later, Sheeran returned to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night for his first arena show in the city. After spending some time with popular Pittsburgh rapper, Mac Miller, he geared up for the night. The concert, which was held at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday night was once again sold out, but this time on a MUCH larger scale. Thousands of fans crowded into the arena with high hopes and were not left disappointed. Starting off the show with “I’m A Mess” and still using his loop station to create a larger sound, Sheeran commanded the crowd from the very beginning and led them through first-album favorites including “Drunk” and “Lego House” as well as a mix of popular song
s from the new album, “Thinking Out Loud” and “Photograph”. He even included some that he mashed up with popular funk and rap songs. Sheeran’s “Take It Back” was mixed with Stevie Wonder’s hit “Superstition” and Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine”. And the singer’s “Don’t” and “Nina” were joined by Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” and Chris Brown’s “Loyal”. He may not be able to sing mic-less to crowds anymore, but that’s the price of growing popularity and we’re okay with it.
Perhaps the best part of the show came with the first encore song, “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”, which is a popular track off of Sheeran’s first album. “‘Cause with the lyrics I’ll be aiming it right/I won’t stop ’til my name’s in lights/At stadium heights with Damien Rice” and “I’m selling CDs from my rucksack aiming for the papers/Selling CDs from my rucksack aiming for the majors”, Sheeran sang to the crowd, proving how far he’s come and how much further we know he’ll go. When you have a performer who keeps his stage show so simple, (just him, a guitar, and a couple of video screens), it makes it very difficult to deny the pure, raw talent of the artist. And Sheeran displayed just that, showing that he deserves all of the attention he’s been getting over the past couple of years.
