Note: see if you can spot the celebrity in the photos (not someone on stage or performing at the concert of course!).
My brother kindly gave me the opportunity to attend the concert as he had a spare ticket and I snapped at the chance. To be honest concerts and going to this sort of event as never been my thing but I thought it would be silly to pass the opportunity.
So, with 24 hours notice I was ready for my first concert, Ed Sheeran supported by Anne-Marie and Jamie Lawson.
We set off in rush hour which was unavoidable but did lead to some minor delays en-route, particularly around the M60. Then it was to find a parking space. There are loads of car park attendants ushering you in but we settled for one where it looked as though the car would be safe.
We then had a 10 minute walk to the Edithad stadium and with the weather superb. It was a lovely stroll.
After getting through security we entered the stadium and took our seats. Front row, middle tier half way between the half way line (or what would be in a football match) and the stage. They were brilliant seats with a terrific view.
In fact I am pretty sure that wherever you are sat you would get a good view. The Etihad is a 55,000 seater stadium for football games and although it feels big, it feels compact and you are really close to the action. It would be great to see a football match there at some point.
The evening started with Jamie Lawson finishing off, in fact as we arrived to our seats around 7ish, he was just finishing off his set. We were able to take in the scene for a few minutes before Anne-Marie came on stage.
She did a number of songs in her 45 minute stint including some of her latest hits such as 2002 as well as some older songs.
Next up was Ed himself. At the start of the performance he explains what he was going to do. This sounds strange if you are not there, but he was on stage on his own. I expected a band, but no, the whole thing is just him, a guitar, a microphone and for one song a few notes on a keyboard. Oh and of course the loop deck.
The way this works is that songs start with a beat, played by tapping the guitar and then this is recorded with the loop deck using paddles in the floor operated with his feet. Once the beat is recorded, this is then looped back and he starts playing the next part which is recording. This then plays back on a loop and means that several pieces can all be played at the same time with one person and one instrument. Throughout the performance he is then constantly pressing the pedals with his feet to turn on and off some of the looped recordings. It really is quite a skill and something that had me mesmerised.
He did a lot of talking to the audience as well and setting the scene and he came across really well.
One things is for sure, these pop stars, doing gigs such as this must be incredibly fit. He spent nearly 2 hours on stage doing high intensity music, dancing and of course vocals without a break. I am not sure I could manage that and keep concentration in order to keep everything going. Hats off to them all for that.
The show ended about 22:30 and we headed back home. After a motorway closure we didn’t get back until very late, but I can safely say that my very first concert went down well and I would certainly go to another to see the right artist of course.
Celebrity spotting?
How did you get on? Of course it was Rebecca Adlington, double Olympic gold medal winning Swimmer. She was sat directly behind me!
I remember cheering her on in 2008 for her gold medals 🙂
