Ed Sheeran - The Boileroom, Guildford - 20th July 2011 (Live Review)
Monday, 01 August 2011
Written by Owen Sheppard
Surrey is a county rarely associated with the popular music scene. Despite the decades gone by, The Jam are still the highest boasting point that this South Eastern county has to argue with. And despite being the home of the nationally recognized Guildfest, tonight’s venue The Boileroom, with only a couple hundred capacity, is the largest in terms of a real music venue that this city has to offer. You can imagine then, the buzz that surrounds this event as for a second night in a row, this cozy, intimate venue braces itself for a show from one of Britain’s most hyped and popular artists of the year.
January 2011 saw this young singer song writer from Suffolk explode from the underground in to popular music’s spotlight with the unveiling of his self-released “No. 5” collaborative EP. Upon release it was lapped up by Ed’s still growing following of music enthusiasts and shot to 2nd in the ITunes charts. It’s surge to the top spot was only held at bay by Rihanna as she enjoyed her monopoly of power in the pop charts. Working with key figures in the grime scene such as Wiley, Devlin and JME to name but a few, Ed has found a home in both the grime scene as well as the indie scene.
Meanwhile, the demographic of tonight’s two hundred strong audience is as hard to pin point as Ed’s music. While women patiently sip from glasses of wine at the back, Abercrombie and Top shop clad teenagers ready their BlackBerrys at the barrier, in anticipation for their first glimpse of the rising star. But certainly, to no one’s surprise, Ed has come armed with a few extra tricks up his sleeve tonight. The clock strikes nine and the screams of dozens of tightly packed teenage girls floods the room, and at this volume, most likely the street outside too.
Ed on the other hand, bearing his signature look: a red top and Vo5’ed spiked hair is in control from the word go. He beckons the crowd to quell their frenzied excitement, shushing them and quieting them down. Neglecting his mic though, he goes without amplification in to serenading us with opening track Grade 8.It seems an unconventional way of firing in to a gig but it has every one of us in the grip of his hand, silent as statues waiting for his permission to cheer and sing on.
Next track The City steps the tempo up and is a prime demonstration of the song craft that Ed is becoming renowned for. Using his trade mark looping machines, he layers his composition of beat box percussion, acoustic riffs and vocal harmonies before taking the song away in to its verses. Ed’s flare as a rapper is also put on show here while the atmosphere erupts with a chorus of voices singing in unison: “what I do isn’t up to you and if the city never sleeps then that makes two”. Tales of big city hardships are hardly an original theme, but with this uncanny approach of mixing folk and rap, Ed manages to breathe new life in to this once redundant feeling concept.
As the next couple of tracks U.N.I and Homeless wash over us, it becomes slowly apparent that the two hundred or so in attendance are encountering some of tonight’s tracks for the first time. To an extent, it is true that Ed has reached the ears of the mainstream because of the success of his single A Team and like with any emerging artist, this can lead to the problem that an audience may not be familiar with the more obscure tracks in a back catalogue. Indeed, as Ed takes us track by track through his set, there are some songs that almost no one seems familiar with. But it is with great politeness and interest that the audience remains in Ed’s grip. All eyes face him, captivated by the quality of some of these songs and after all, it makes the eruptions of applause that the crowd offers back feel even more impressive.
There is a terrific air of quiet confidence and sincerity about the way that Ed conducts himself as well. Between songs he takes time out to explain the songs, their significance to him and some of the quirky meanings behind them. The ease and wit that goes with his stage banter is also quite impressive and it is easy to see how Ed has built a dedicated cult-like fan base over the years. Little Bird and small bump entail charming stories of love and loss from the singer’s past and the short stories that Ed introduces them to us with make for an even more accepting and impressed reception.
Ed starts to bring out his bigger tunes towards the end of this half of the set. Anyone who caught his performance on the “Later with Jools Holland” show a month or two back, will surely be familiar with the display he put on with his cover of Jamie Woon’s folk inspired Way Fairing Stranger. The looping machines are back in play and this time, he goes as far as to use us, the audience, as an instrument. By recording us singing back to the vocal harmonies on the track, he then plays them back in time with the beat. It makes our participation seem even more valuable and you can tell from the audience’s singing that it is greatly appreciated. This unity between audience and artist makes for one of the most sublime moments of the night.
We are ten tracks in now and the time has come for the songs that everyone has been waiting for. The opening bars of A Team come in and it sparks the loudest noise form the audience of the night. Quite unlike with most of the set so far, everyone present tonight seems to know this track word for word and it sounds as if Ed is forced to shout a little louder above the crowd, whose delighted voices almost begin to drown him out. Ed also informs us of his anecdote and inspiration that goes along with this tune, an encounter with an unfortunate woman at a homeless shelter a friend of his once organized. You can sense a feeling of true empathy that chimes through these lyrics and its as touching for some of the audience as it is uplifting. Ed also invites guest vocalist Michael Pain, an MC who has collaborated with Ed and is traveling with him on tour. The two exchange verses and Ed even treats us to a taste of a new verse that he has written while on tour.
Next up to top things off before the encore is Ed’s second hit single “you need me” one of the more energetic and lively tracks. Like with A team, the response from the audience is phenomenal, perhaps one of the greatest that this modest venue has experienced in a long time.
Ed’s short lived break is denied with the overwhelming demand for an encore. When most artists approach an encore, they usually do so with a new song, a greatest hit or crowd pleaser. With Ed now having exhausted the bulk of his back catalogue, what songs he has left to play to send the night off with a finishing high is left to the imagination. Ed makes up for this though with promise of playing the encore perched on a stool with just his voice and his guitar in the middle of the crowd. He squeezes through an obliging audience who surround him. The encore is topped off with lesser known tracks Gimme Love, Parting Glass and to everyone’s surprise, a splendid cover of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love. The tracks may not be the most memorable of the night, but the spectacle of having them played from within the audience is pretty exceptional and it has those closest to him beaming in almost disbelief.
With his unquestionable sincerity and quiet confidence, one would not be laughed at for thinking of Ed as Grime’s answer to Frank Turner. Tonight has proved to those new and familiar to his music that Ed is capable of big choruses, clever lyrics, witty conversation with the crowd and a humble, yet very genuine enthusiasm. The young man from Suffolk still has yet to record a full length album, but with the talent he holds and a recent signing from Atlantic Records, you can expect to see his name on the chart lists and festival lineups of the future.
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January 2011 saw this young singer song writer from Suffolk explode from the underground in to popular music’s spotlight with the unveiling of his self-released “No. 5” collaborative EP. Upon release it was lapped up by Ed’s still growing following of music enthusiasts and shot to 2nd in the ITunes charts. It’s surge to the top spot was only held at bay by Rihanna as she enjoyed her monopoly of power in the pop charts. Working with key figures in the grime scene such as Wiley, Devlin and JME to name but a few, Ed has found a home in both the grime scene as well as the indie scene.
