Ed Sheeran, concert review: Ed can't hide his star quality at Teenage Cancer Trust gig

Ed Sheeran pleased the crowd at the Royal Albert Hall - which included David Beckham
Low-key: Sheeran performed at the Royal Albert Hall with just a guitar, loop pedal and voice
PA Wire
Rick Pearson29 March 2017

The stars came out last night to see Ed Sheeran at the Royal Albert Hall – including England footballing legend David Beckham.

Golden Balls looked on approvingly as Sheeran delighted the crowd with songs from his world-conquering Divide album at this show for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Armed with a guitar, loop pedal and voice, the singer was living proof that some men can multitask, deftly layering songs with harmonies, beats and multiple guitar parts.

Having spent years crashing on people’s couches and playing the tiniest of venues, at 26, Sheeran now finds himself a bona fide superstar. Earlier this month, all 16 tracks from Divide occupied a place in the Top 20 and this summer he’ll headline Glastonbury. Refreshingly, he seems impervious to the trappings of fame. Strolling onto the stage in a T-shirt, jeans and trainers, he had the look of a lost busker.

Opener Castle On The Hill was a retrospective set against Mumfordsy backing; Eraser had flamenco rhythms and more layers than an onion; and The A Team, a ballad about a vulnerable young woman, gained new gravitas on an evening that raised money for teenagers battling cancer.

While Sheeran’s hugely accomplished at this one-man show malarkey, it’s hard to shift the feeling that many of these songs might sound better still if they were performed, as they are on record, by a full band. So overworked was he on Galway Girl that he looked less like a singer and more like a panicked contestant on MasterChef trying to plate up in time.

Then again, Sheeran might look at the evidence — number-one albums, packed arenas — and surmise that he needs no one else. Whatever he decides, as Shape Of You brought the evening to a thrilling close, there’s seemingly no stopping this musical phenomenon.

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