Alyssa Dicker

Staff Writer

Ed Sheeran performed at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 27. Anne-Marie and Snow Patrol opened for him. The stage was set in the light blue hues that match his latest album cover, “Divide.” When he finally hit the stage at about 8:45 p.m., he began singing “Castle on the Hill” right away.

When the song ended, he greeted the audience and mentioned how he used to open for Snow Patrol. He made fun of himself saying how he is a boring concert attendee, and encouraged the audience to dance and sing and not worry what anyone else may be thinking. Then he started singing “Eraser,” track one on “Divide.” When Sheeran performs, he lets his talents speak for themselves; leaving theatrics and outrageous displays behind.  Simply wearing a black long sleeved t-shirt that said, “Hoax,” and his jeans, the only things on stage are Sheeran, his guitar, and his loop pedal. The loop pedal is what brings depth to his falsely simple display. With the loop pedal, Sheeran can play and sing part of a song, and that part will keep playing while he adds new music. This way, even though it is only him and his guitar, the audience is given all the layers of the song.

After “Dive,” Sheeran reminisced to when he was an 18-year-old playing a song in English pubs for people who did not really care. That song was always special to him, and that night, he got to play it for an audience who cared enough to pay and struggle through Philadelphia traffic to hear it. The next song was “A-Team.”

Next, Sheeran turned up the heat with a mash-up of “Don’t” and “New Man.” He took a moment to tease the audience asking, “How many boyfriends do we have in the audience? And where are the super dads?” He made jokes about the boyfriends and “super dads” not wanting to be there and then added, “But I mean this from the bottom of my heart; you’re taking time out of your day to do something you don’t really want to do for someone you really love, and I think that’s awesome.”

After “Dive,” “Bloodstream,” “Happier,” “Give Me Love,” “Galway Girl,” and a quick sample of “Feeling Good,” Sheeran started to tug on the audience’s heart strings even more.

“I See Fire,” was next and then Sheeran commented, “If you don’t know this next one you’re at the wrong concert.” He began to sing, “When your legs don’t work like they used to before…” the audience shrilled with excitement and sang along to “Thinking Out Loud.” “Photograph” and “Perfect” followed. During “Perfect,” Sheeran asked the audience to turn on the lights on their phones and the stadium lit up.

Then he got into more faced paced songs with “Nancy Mulligan” and announced that “Sing” would be the last song of the evening. However, experienced concert goers knew better, and kept chanting as he walked off the stage. He didn’t keep his eager fans waiting long and returned back to the stage in an Eagles jersey. He sang “Shape of You,” and then “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” was actually the final song of the evening.

Every song was sung perfectly and Sheeran was friendly and fun on stage. It was a memorable night for everyone in the audience and hopefully for Sheeran as well.