Ed Sheeran to Manila crowd: My job is to entertain you

Ed Sheeran PHOTO BY DON LEJANO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Immediately recognizable in his signature style of unbuttoned plaid shirt, dark jeans and trainers, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran performed to a sold-out crowd on Thursday, March 12, as part of his worldwide tour in support of his album, “X” (pronounced “multiply”).

“I had never had a crowd like this. My job is to entertain you; your job is to be entertained,” said the scraggly musician amid a cacophony of screams that thundered throughout Mall of Asia Arena. He just finished performing his opening song “I’m A Mess.”

With the crowd’s energy still fresh, Sheeran dove straight to performing one of his earlier hits, “Lego House.” At one point toward the end of the song, he had an exhilarated smile on his face as he stood on top of a stage monitor with the audience singing the lyrics to him.

“Manila, I could only feel this is gonna be the best show I’ve ever done,” Ed announced right before he started laying down the main riff of “Don’t” to the crowd’s delight. A few bars in, he stepped on his Chewie Monsta, a custom-made loop station which was as much a part of his music as his signature Martin guitars. He then added a thumping backbeat and seamlessly weaved in lines from Chris Brown’s “Loyal” and Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” before ending with “Nina,” a unique, mashup approach that he would continually do throughout the night.

Ed Sheeran followed this up with “Drunk,” a self-deprecating confessional with a lilting chorus that the crowd couldn’t resist but sing along to. Almost without pause, he went straight to “Take It Back” and owned the stage with the same swagger and confidence as any rap artist would but without the unnecessary bravado. He ended with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1972 hit, “Superstition.”

After a highly energetic performance thus far, Ed decided to turn it down a notch with “Kiss Me,” his first sensitive song of the night. After the first chorus, he segued to a heartfelt performance of “Tenerife Sea” that had people waving their phones in the air, bathing the arena in a glow of LCD screens as they sang along.

Overcome with emotion

By the time Ed was singing the passionate opening lines of “All of the Stars,” some of the fans at the venue were already overcome with emotion with one girl exclaiming, “Oh my god, I’m crying!”

Just when everybody’s lulled into emo territory, Ed decided to pick up the pace with a fiery performance of “Bloodstream.” As the song peaked, the looped beats and guitar parts all layered on top of each other, creating a giant wall of sound that reached a dramatic crescendo that was nothing short of intoxicating.

With the crowd still rabid, he then swapped his Martin acoustic with a green Fender Stratocaster and goes into “Thinking Out Loud,” eliciting the strongest reaction thus far since he stepped on stage. The slightly distorted guitar tone was as scruffy as Ed’s stubbles and perfectly complemented the song’s sensitive lyrics.

Sheeran launched into another cover, this time with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” then went straight to “I See Fire” from “The Desolation of Smaug” soundtrack. The entire arena was then bathed in red light as if it were on fire, adding to the song’s impact.

As if carried away by the moment, Ed told the crowd, “This is honestly, hand-on-heart, a hundred percent the best reception that I’ve ever received,” and proceeded with his first single, “The A Team.” By song’s end, he asked everyone to light the place up with their phones and the entire MOA Arena suddenly became twice as bright.

Ed capped his set list with “Give Me Love.” As the song progressed, a cascade of finely woven guitar layers enveloped the venue and the crowd’s emotions swelled alongside it. Sheeran then cleverly utilized the crowd and had them sing two different harmonies on repeat as he sang the closing lines of the song before stepping off the stage.

After the requisite crowd chant of “We want more!”, Ed came back with a frenetic medley of “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.” He then pulled a phone out of his pocket and took a photo of the crowd which he later posted on his Instagram account with the caption, “Manila!”

He ended the night with a hearty performance of crowd favorite, “Sing,” the festive vibe more like a championship football match than a concert, but not before announcing what every Ed Sheeran fan in attendance was waiting to hear: “Manila thank you so much for having me. This is my first trip to the Philippines but it definitely won’t be my last.”

Moments after he walked off the platform and with the venue lights already back on, a significant portion of the crowd remained, still singing and chanting as if held in a trance.

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