3 minute read
Ed Sheeran
Filling the Stade de France in Paris was a dream of his and he can tick it off of his list now. After performing in several smaller venues like Le Bataclan in 2014, the Zenith of Paris in 2015 and the Accorhotels Arena last year, Ed Sheeran did not fill one but two stadiums in France. On the first date, he confided to the public that this dream of his came up when he saw the French rap band IAM perform there. However, he was told that few international artists could boast of having performed on this legendary stage, the French public being quite difficult to conquer.
Words and Photos by Deborah Gaillard with Ludivine Desumeur
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After two very successful support acts, Jamie Lawson and Anne-Marie, who, as for her, already had several songs known by the public such as «Ciao Adios», «Friends», or «2002», Ed Sheeran entered the stadium with simplicity. Indeed, it’s without artifices and without musicians that the British singer-songwriter appeared: only him, his guitar, and his pedal loop, which allowed him to play his instrumentals on stage all by himself.
Ed Sheeran chose to position “Castle On The Hill” at the top of his setlist: right from the first notes of the single, which had given a taste of his album «Divide», the crowd came alive and sang the chorus at the top of their lungs. Then came «Eraser» and the atmosphere did not weaken, quite the contrary. This is indeed a very energetic track that shows the singer’s talent as a rapper.
Our favorite ginger boy continued with «The A Team», the first single from his debut album. Although not everyone is here since day one, this song is still strongly present in everybody’s minds. A magical and intimate moment where we got back to the atmosphere of his first small gigs.
A mashup then followed up: «Don’t» / «New Man». It is a quite successful and very effective combination between these two titles that appear respectively on the 2nd and 3rd album of the British prodigy. «Dive» and «Bloodstream» also won unanimous support and the fans were delighted to hear the latest single from the album «Divide», «Happier», performed live. Once again, the audience sang in unison, which Ed Sheeran genuinely loves, seeing his fans react to the rhythm of his melodies. As he says so well, we are not only his audience, we are also his «dancers» and his «backing vocalists».
The worldwide famous 27-year-old singer also admitted that he still does not feel very comfortable when it comes to dancing on stage but invited everyone to enjoy the moment without thinking of others.
After «I’m A Mess» and «Galway Girl», which is the third single of his latest album, Ed Sheeran mixed again two songs: «Feeling Good», a cover of the famous track by Nina Simone and «I See Fire» which appeared on the soundtrack of the movie «The Hobbit».
Then followed a moment of tenderness: Ed Sheeran performed romantic ballads, one after another. «Thinking Out Loud» came first, one of his sophomore album’s greatest hits, and on which a marriage proposal actually took place in the pit. Then came a mashup with «One» and «Photograph». Finally, “Perfect” was next, to the delight of all. The show went on with two catchier and more dynamic songs: «Nancy Mulligan» and «Sing», first single off his second album «X».
Ed went off the stage quite quickly, and returned for the encore: we still had two last songs to enjoy, and here he was, all smiling and wearing the football jersey of Les Bleus, as a nod to the victory of the French football team against Uruguay the same afternoon. From the first notes of «Shape Of You», the crowd went wild on the song of the summer 2017 before singing the chorus of «You Need Me I Do not Need You» that closed this exceptional show.
If the rumors of a hasty retreat were ever to circulate, Ed Sheeran will have made his performance at the Stade de France a magical moment, with his brilliant music and beautiful voice as well as the amazing visuals designed for each songs, that his fans are not ready to forget.
