Ed Sheeran - Live Review

Ed Sheeran - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle (25/10/14)

Callum Thornhill

How does a man with just ONE guitar manage to fill a full arena? Simple answer; because he is one of the best British talents of a generation.

Ed Sheeran came to Newcastle for the first time since his 2012 tour. Last time he played the City Hall - a suitable venue considering he had only just released his first studio album.

This time however, he played the famous Metro Radio Arena - a capacity of 11,000. Understandable seeing as since his last visit, Sheeran has sold out arenas worldwide.

On a night where the north east of England played host to Sam Smith, John Cooper Clarke, Lisbon, AND Little Comets it was Ed Sheeran who played to the highest crowd and oh boy was it worth missing poetic genius Cooper Clarke for.

Supported by the massively talented Saint Raymond (who I saw at Leeds festival) and Jamie Lawson (who I had admittedly never heard of), these set a very high standard for Sheeran.

Opening with I'm A Mess from latest album X, the night was sure to be a success.

Combining hits from X with debut album Plus, Sheeran used his typically crowd engaging presence to fill the full stage that had been played on by Paolo Nutini the night before. A great two nights for music in Newcastle!

'Breakthrough hit' The A Team was included in the set list along with massive hits Lego House and Drunk from Plus. The more heartfelt Kiss Me was requested by a member of the crowd and Sheeran proceeded to play it - another way he continues to please his fans.

This tour was mainly to showcase X and the setlist consisted of hits like Tenerife Sea, Don't, and Thinking Out Loud - where he encouraged fans to ballroom dance like he does in the music video. Fantastic scenes.

As always, Ed Sheeran's penultimate track was You Need Me, I Don't Need You. The extended version that seems to last an eternity was of course performed by the fiery haired musician.

It was the comebacks single Sing that closed the show. Accompanied by only his loop pedal to create the backing instrumentation it was to my sheer delight to catch this live.

Ed Sheeran is a real performer who never fails to put on a mind-blowing show - both through his music and the visual display behind him. Always a pleasure catching him live.

Here is a snippet of Give Me Love that I recorded last night...